ALVIN & FRIENDS
14 Memorial Highway
New Rochelle 
914-654-6549

By Karen Talbot

Jun. 28, 2017:  What a pleasure it was to meet Alvin Clayton, the handsome and charming host and owner of this attractive restaurant serving Southern and Caribbean dishes with live jazz music playing in the background on the night we were there. Alvin, who is originally from Trinidad, is also an artist, and his colorful and noteworthy paintings adorn the walls. Dark wood floors and comfortable banquettes, along with exceptional wrought-iron light fixtures, make for a very pleasant dining atmosphere.

The menu items are an escape from the normal Westchester County fare, and the chef, Kimani Hines, does not hold back on his creativity. Our meal started with a serving of mini corn muffins and cornmeal crusted fried oysters with vegetable chow chow and lemon-caper tartar sauce (about which our New Orleans friend commented that they were the best fried oysters he had ever had). Other starters were tostones (plantains) with creole shrimp ravigote, sweet plantains with roasted tomato and black bean salsa, and naked jerk wings. From my experience, some of these starters are enough for two people to share.

The entrées we dined on were shrimp & grits, the Original Grit Girl stone-ground grits with peppers and onions, spinach, and “pot likker butter sauce.” This wonderful entrée was hearty and could definitely be shared. If you like fried chicken, then you must order the buttermilk fried chicken, which is served with slow-cooked greens with smoked turkey, three-cheese macaroni and cheese, and very good collard greens. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. Other entrées are cornmeal fried catfish, herb crusted rack of lamb, and Caribbean jerk pork, to name a few.

We sampled three yummy desserts: rum cake and red velvet bread pudding, both served with ice cream and caramel sauce, and flourless chocolate cake with ice cream and raspberry coulis.

Alvin & Friends has a New Orleans vibe, in part because of the soothing jazz, played every Thursday night through July by the George Coleman Jr. Quartet. There is also live music on Fridays and Saturdays, a jazz brunch on Sundays, and a steel band on Tuesday nights. Lunch is served on Fridays and Saturdays; brunch on Sundays, and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. The seafood is fresh and locally sourced and there are daily specials. Starters run between $9 and $17 and entrées range from $24 to $39.

Pictured here:  Top: main dining room of Alvin & Friends; in text: red velvet bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Photos courtesy Theresa Kump Leghorn; photo of main dining room by Susan Nagib