There’s a fascinating fusion of flavors to tempt diners in a year-old Upper West Side restaurant and Vincentian native Kamal Hoyte shines. CBS2’s Tony Tantillo visits Pekarna for this week’s Dining Deal.
I grew up in St. Vincent, in the Caribbean. I moved to the United States in 2004 to live with my mom. In the process of becoming independent from my parents, I decided to get a job. The first job I got was a dishwasher at a small restaurant in Bergenfield, New Jersey, called Mrs. O’s Cafe. I was very observant. I knew I wanted to do something more, though at that point I didn’t know I wanted to get into cooking.
I went on to work at the Cheesecake Factory in 2006. The kitchen at the Cheesecake Factory has a big Iine, with 20 or 25 cooks. It’s crazy. You come home from that shift, and you’re thinking, “Shit, I don’t want to go back to that again.” But something pushes you—”You know what? Go back and do it.” I ended up being there for like two or three years. It worked out fine, and that experience really pushed me to get into culinary school. That’s when I became very passionate about the culinary field.
I enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in 2007 and graduated in 2010. My aspiration prior to coming to the U.S. was to become an architect, because I have a strong art background. I draw things naturally. But I ended up in restaurants.
