Almost as soon as Cathy, Peter, and I sat down at the counter at Kabawa, the Caribbean restaurant that is currently no. 1 on the New York Times Top 100 list, we noticed the Calypso chicken. There was a line of them ready to go on a raised shelf in the open kitchen that dominates the restaurant, and they stood out amid the disciplined choreography of Kabawa’s cooks for one simple reason: They clearly still had their heads and feet attached. Well, one of their feet. Calypso chicken was a special that night; of course we ordered it.

When it arrived, there was a brief debate: Who would claim the head, and who the foot? (We didn’t discuss the rest, it seemed not to matter.) We resolved it amicably. Cathy took the foot, while I got the head and neck, because that’s just what dads in my family do. (Peter, I guess, got the rest?!?) And as my teeth crunched into this modern-day dinosaur’s skull, I knew this was what we’d all been hoping for, the crunchy-juicy ideal of a roast chicken. Among the many delicious things we ate that night — the roti, the pepper shrimp, the jerk duck sausage — this special felt, well, special, representative not just of what’s going on at Kabawa but of where New York City dining is at these days.

This is what I mean: When Cathy and I got to speak with Kabawa’s chef, Paul Carmichael — for the latest episode of our podcast, go listen to it now! — we asked him why he’d kept the head and feet on, when so many other restaurants, afraid of freaking out their customers, would have shunted them into stock.

His response was matter of fact: “They have heads,” he said. “I’m not trying to make a statement — they just are what they are. I’m not gonna throw ‘em out or just put them in stock. Come on, man. And they’re edible.”

He was not wrong! They are very edible. But just because he’s not trying to make a statement doesn’t mean he’s not making a statement. What he’s saying — or at least what I’m hearing — is that there are now legions of both chefs and diners who accept that heads and feet are food. Not weird food, not exotic food, but regular everyday food food. Generations of them — of us — have grown up eating heads and feet, intestines and sweetbreads, blood cakes and eyeballs, all the bits you never used to see in highly rated New York City fine-dining restaurants. (Or if you did, they were smothered in French sauces.) The fact that they are here, on Kabawa’s menu and others’ as well, and that the Times approves, speaks volumes about where we are as a dining culture. As the kids like to say, we’re normalizing what was once abnormal. Now, chef Paul just needs to move the Calypso off the specials and onto the permanent menu…

What do you think? Are heads and feet here to stay on restaurant menus? Or is this a passing fad? Drop us a line with your thoughts at [email protected].

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