the strong buzz, by andrea strong

“Colors”

March 12, 2006
MY DINNER AT COLORS
It occurred to me the other night while having dinner at Colors, that often times we make judgments based on the surface of things. We look at someone, or something, make quick conclusions, and move on. But if we take the time to explore what lies beyond that first impression, what we find beneath the surface is far more complex and far more compelling than our initial hasty judgments might have suggested.

Take for instance the two new friends I had dinner with the other night at Colors. I met Julie and Cheryl recently, in a Craft of Fiction Class I am taking at NYU. (Yes, I now join the thousands of New Yorkers who can claim a novel in progress.) At first glance they are attractive Westchester soccer Moms. But then I got to know them. And I must say, these two women are so much more than Westchester soccer Moms. One is a painter, a non-profit fundraiser, and a single Mom with three kids, and the other is a lawyer, formerly of Paul Weiss, and married with two kids. Both are nurturing families. But both are also active advocates in the fight against domestic violence, and the lawyer was actually responsible for writing several vital pieces of domestic violence legislation that she personally lobbied and got signed into law. She has changed the landscape of criminal law and how it protects women against batterers. So much for Desperate Housewives. And as we ate our dinner, and went through a bottle and a half of Nebbiola, the surface continued to crack, and I was more and more impressed with my new friends.

And then I thought about Colors, a new restaurant on Lafayette Street that serves a menu of global fare—dishes from Cuba, Italy, Haiti, Thailand, Colombia and more. On its face, the concept is confusing and the menu seems rudderless. But once you crack the surface and understand what Colors stands for, the concept makes sense. And you realize that the menu is not aimless. Its direction is sure—it reflects the varied nationalities of its employee owners. But look even deeper, and you discover that Colors is one of the most compelling and unique restaurants to open in the history of dining out.

As many of you probably already know, Colors is a living tribute to the 73 Windows on the World workers who perished on 9/11. But Colors is much more than a memorial; it is a forward-looking business model for the future of the restaurant industry. With Colors, these 58 employees from 24 different countries have created a cooperatively owned and operated restaurant in which every worker shares an equity stake. (Every worker has the same stake based on100 hours of sweat equity.) As owners, they receive a share of the profits and supervise the running of the restaurant through an elected board. They also make a minimum of $13.50 an hour, far above the industry average. It’s a concept that feels like it should have happened many years ago.

The restaurant was developed in conjunction with the Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC) of New York, an organization formed by former Windows on the World staff after 9/11 to improve working conditions for all restaurant workers. (ROC continues to help all restaurant workers with health insurance, job placement, career counseling, and all sorts of legal issues, including the recent suit against Shelly Fireman and the Red Eye Grill. The complaint alleges unfair labor practices, underpaid wages, and sexual harassment.) If Colors is a success, ROC hopes to extend this cooperative model of employee ownership to other restaurant ventures within the US, integrating elements of sustainable agriculture and support for local producers as key business principles.

Colors was designed by James Walrod (Pace) and Dine Murphy Wood (architects) with a swanky, 1930’s Art Deco diner vibe. There are wide cozy booths, round globe-shaped lights strung from the ceiling, and walls covered in beveled glass painted with maps of the world, a nod to the 24 countries represented by the restaurant’s employees. (Don’t be put off by the heavy black doors that are the entry to Colors. The façade is only temporary, a product of permits issues with the landmarks commission. The doors should be replaced by an open glass façade by April.)

Like the design, the menu also mirrors the restaurant’s global citizenship. Every employee-owner donated a favorite national dish to chef Raymond Mohan (Chicama, Pipa, Patria, and Plantain) who tweaked the recipes, dressing them up a bit for a New York audience. (The menu will change throughout the year so that every employee’s dish has a chance to be represented.)

Take for instance, the Pam Thai ($12), a Pad Thai recipe from an employee from Thailand named Pam. It was fantastic. Tender chicken is pulled and shredded and thrown in with long beans, green papaya, and fat toasted cashews, all tossed in a juicy citrus chili dressing that was tart, sweet, and hot at just the right moments. The serving was piled into such an impossibly high mound that I had to sit up straight to see over the top of it. We made a nice dent in it, but we could not even get through half of it. I took what I couldn’t finish home with me for lunch the next day. I could not bare to leave it behind.

Cheryl was all about the winter squash and wild mushroom risotto ($11)—super creamy Arobrio rice topped with shards of Parmesan and diced figs, and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar. But I thought it was much too rich and creamy, more like rice and cheese than delicate risotto. And Julie loved the tuna ceviche ($15), which I agree was very good, but I think the chef took one too many steps toward dressing it up. He slices the fish into nice even rectangles tosses it with jalapeños, lime juice, and red onion. He should have left it alone there. But he adds a scoop of cold icy guava sorbet that just doesn’t work. It makes the fish taste frozen, and gritty. As I pushed the tuna around on my plate, a platter of fabulous fried oysters strutted by. My eyes followed them. I checked the menu—they were the crispy oysters ($12)—panko-crusted, with a gratin of spinach and spicy tamarind mayo. I made a mental note to try those next time. They looked great.

Our waiter, Fernando, was wonderful. He was constantly in attention, very enthusiastic about his restaurant, and quite knowledgeable about the origins of every dish and which employee had donated the recipe. He steered us to the slow roasted pork, an entrée based on a Colombian recipe. The platter was filled with heavenly shredded ropes of slow roasted pork with terrific fried plantains (as if fried plantains can ever be bad), and red rice and beans, topped with a fried egg that we punctured, letting its orange yolky heart bleed all over the rice, beans, and pork. If I had been given a tortilla, I would have made myself a fabulous little burrito on the fly. Yummy stuff, People. Sadly, the seared scallops and Madeira braised oxtails ($27) were not quite as good. Though the scallops were nicely seared, and quite plump and moist, the oxtails were overly sweet—too much Madeira in the mix there—but the sautéed mustard greens did help balance it out. The North Atlantic Fluke ($26) was a smash hit: two wide fillets, pan fried to a nutty brown crust, bedded on Napa cabbage, snow peas, and long beans, all set in a puddle of deeply flavored coconut and lemongrass curry. Fabulous.

Dinner ended with a riff on churros con chocolate ($9) that arrive like a holiday from Spain. Instead of long thin churros you get a trio of hot sugared pom pom-styled donuts filled with a hit of dulce de leche that squirts out into your mouth (careful, it is hot). And instead of hot chocolate, you get a little glass bottle of chocolate milk, with three straws. We slurped some milk, ate our donuts, then slurped some more; we were effectively transformed into five year olds. We were very happy girls.

Now, if I were to judge Colors on its business model and its moral character alone, I would give it an A+. But Colors is a restaurant, and like any other in New York City, it has to be judged first by its food, service, and design. Judging it here as a restaurant like any other, I give it a B+. I liked a lot of the food, and I also liked the 30’s diner design, but it is the union of these elements within the concept that I am having trouble with; somehow the pieces do not all come together.

My suggestion is this. The restaurant is lovely, maybe too lovely. Waiters are formally dressed in white button down shirts and ties. There are heavy white tablecloths and lots of precious flatware and stemware. These are beautiful touches, but I am not sure they belong at Colors. This is not Windows on the World. This is Lafayette Street. Part of me wonders what might happen if they toned it down a notch and played up the festival of food on the plate and let it go a little bit, lightening the formality, removing the tablecloths, the button-down shirts and the ties. What if there were chrome deco diner tables, and waiters in black button down shirts and black pants? What if they let the place become a little bit less formal, and gave it a little more edge? Then maybe the home-style, global nature of the food would not seem at odds with the setting. Maybe? Maybe not. Just one girl’s opinon.

Even so, as it stands today, Colors is a magnificent achievement for these 58 employee-owners. It is a ground-breaking concept that may change the face of the restaurant business as we know it. It is also an example of what can grow from loss, of what we can create when we think outside the box, and of what we find when we take the time to look beneath the surface.

Colors is located at 417 Lafayette Street, between Astor and East 4th Street, 212-777-8443.

Andrea Strong