Throughout the week, Doris “Estelita” Gabriel visits local markets, collecting ingredients for the Belizean Garifuna menu she serves out of her South Los Angeles home every other Saturday. Before moving to L.A.
from Belize in 2015, Gabriel used to set up shop on the side of a major road in her hometown of Punta Gorda. Now that she operates Smith’s Kitchen out of her home, the chef relies on word of mouth. Thankfully, customers are quick to share their praise for Gabriel’s traditionally prepared dishes, including tamales, curry chicken and cassava pudding.
Los Angeles may lack dedicated enclaves for its Caribbean communities, but the influence from countries that border the Caribbean Sea — island nations such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti, as well as Central and South American countries including Belize, Panama, Guyana and Suriname — has been felt for decades and is gaining wider recognition. In many instances, Caribbean cuisines are at the vanguard of Southern California’s multicultural kitchen. L.
A. is home to the only Guyanese pastry program on the West Coast, Bridgetown Roti’s Rashida Holmes was honored as an Emerging Chef finalist in the 2023 James Beard Awards, and members belonging to the city’s growing Dominican community are hosting parties to embed Caribbean culture and food in the local nightlife scene. “Our house is full of all different people,” Gabriel says of her Saturday lunch and dinner s.