Tiny Black House Takeout
How it works…
Every Thursday and Sunday starting on December 3, 2023 we will be cooking takeout dinners. Every dinner will feature a different country. That means we visit 2 countries per week! If we decide to revisit a country within the season, then it will be an entirely new menu. We pick dishes that have a wide reach, though sometimes we will throw an “eccentric” dish in there as well. We do our best to offer vegetarian options where it is applicable. In other words, if there is not a vegetarian option that we are interested in, then there won’t be any (usually there is though). What there will be very little of however is Vegan foods. Not that we dislike vegans (one of us is a huge Rastafari fan), but a lot of the countries we visit just don’t have options that fit that bill. On that note, we do cook ITAL a couple of times a season. If you don’t know what that is…look it up. This endeavor is not just about food for us, it is also deeply rooted in understanding and experiencing another piece of humanity’s culture. So, to that end, we use recipes that come from people native to these countries. In other words, we keep it as real as we can!
So onward to the “how it works” part of this introduction.
1 – We are only 2 people so we only cook around 20ish servings When the menu says Sold Out, it is truly Sold Out.
2 – We post the menu for Thursday’s dinner on Tuesday evening and for Sunday’s dinner on Friday evening. It is 100% first come first serve. We will not hold a spot for you. We do not decide what country or what dishes from said country we will offer until the day we post the menu so asking ahead of time ‘What’s on the menu?’ is pointless.
3 – All dinners are pre-order only. If you have ordered takeout before, the system will feel very familiar; if not, it is self-explanatory. All orders will be pre-paid through the ordering system (we do not know most of you so that is just how it is).
4 – For any orders that are over the amount that 4 people would eat, we reserve the right to contact you and possibly decline the order. The reason for this is we want as many people as possible to get a chance to try our takeout. If you are hosting a dinner party, this is not the method to get it catered…we don’t do that usually and that is not the purpose of these meals.
5 – If the food is spicy, gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan it will be noted with an icon next to the dish in the ordering system. It is usually in the description of the dish as well. We DO NOT do customized dishes. You do not get to pick and choose what ingredients you want and do not want, there are plenty of restaurants out there who will happily do that for you. For instance, if the dish is full of cilantro, and you dislike cilantro, don’t order that dish! Again the reason for this is twofold: we are only 2 people and also because we will not change the ingredients in the dish since all of the ingredients are part of that dish, and are almost always central to the taste of the dish.
6 – We buy local where it is applicable. The vast majority of our dishes contain a lot of ingredients that cannot be grown in Vermont so before you speak…think. Vermont does not produce plantains or chadon beni therefore we must procure many items elsewhere. What we try and do whenever we can is buy those more “exotic” ingredients through the stores of immigrants in Vermont so we are supporting their businesses. Sometimes they cannot get something, for example, breadfruit. In those cases, we would hold that particular menu until the time someone we know is coming to town from an area of the country where you can get that item and we ask them to bring it with them.
Now I’m sure the question on your mind is, how do I stay in the know?! Well, we try and make it easy for you. The menu will go LIVE on Tuesday evenings and Friday evenings on the website directly below this page. Click the “Place Order Here” button and place your order. After we post it to the website we will also post on our Instagram page that the menu is LIVE and let you know what country it is as well. Then it will also go out to our newsletter subscribers. We will not email you, call you, text you or send you smoke signals! We sell out every meal deep in the NEK each summer and I would assume Montpelier will not be any different. Look at it as a Limited Edition offering where there are only 20 slots and you have to try and snag one. Sometimes you will get in, sometimes you will not.
PLEASE NOTE – As this is the first takeout dinner in Montpelier, we will post this menu early this week! So keep an eye out on Monday or Tuesday for the Menu for Sunday December 3rd!
Every meal will be authentic and different and we will be rotating through the Caribbean Islands as well as Central American countries and a few northern South American countries. We reserve the right to diverge to both Africa and Asia occasionally as we cook outstanding dishes from some of those countries as well.
Basically, we cook whatever we feel like cooking.
Every dish we make we have cooked countless times and the vast majority are based on friends and family recipes.
We believe this might be some of the best World food in the Northeast. Below is a sample menu from the last dinner of the season at our Bodega in the NEK. Note that we will most likely be starting this with 2 mains and 2 sides as our kitchen here is substantially smaller than in the Kingdom and we need to feel out what is possible within that limitation. So get ready to Come on out and pick up some stellar world food to take home and enjoy in the comfort of your home this winter! And by all means, don’t take our word for it, read the real-world reviews below!
Please Note – These Dinners are preorder only with a limit of 20 servings per dinner, so get your reservations in early!
Sunday’s December 3rd Menu is now SOLD OUT!!!
Thank you Montpelier!!!
Jamaica
MENU
1 – Jamaican Curry Chicken – SOLD OUT!
Jamaican curry chicken is distinctively bright yellow in color, that is cooked low and slow. It ends up melt in your mouth tender, full of Caribbean fresh herbs and spices. This dish uses actual Jamaican curry…it is Spicy. However, it doesn’t get much better than this!
Served with a side of Jamaican rice and beans
2 – Jerk Pork Shoulder – SOLD OUT!
This succulent, ultra flavorful pork shoulder marinates in jerk spices for 48hrs and then slowly roasts until it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender. By the time we chop this up into smaller chunks, the meat is succulent, savory, spicy, and sweet. It is as good as you are thinking it is!
Served with Jamaican rice and beans and a side of steamed greens and cabbage.
3 – Gungo Peas Ital Dinner – SOLD OUT!
This is hearty soup with bold flavors loaded with pigeon (gungo) peas, dumplings and hearty ground provisions.
A Jamaican classic – the ultimate Caribbean comfort food. Also… its vegetarian.
Served with a side of Jamaican rice and beans.
4 – Stamp-and-Go – SOLD OUT!
Crunchy fritters made with battered veggies, seasonings, and salted codfish which is then fried until golden and crispy with a soft chewy center!
Three fritters per order with a garlicky Caribbean dipping sauce.
On a scale of 1-10, these rate stupid good!
5 – Gungo Peas Soup (side order) – SOLD OUT!
This is a side order of hearty soup with bold flavors loaded with pigeon (gungo) peas, dumplings and hearty ground provisions.
A Jamaican classic – the ultimate Caribbean comfort food.
Also… its vegetarian.
Pickup slots are every 15 minutes and limited to 3 orders per slot.
Click the button right below that says “Place Order Here” and you should be all set.
PLACE ORDER HERE!
Reviews are below if your interested.
Pickup is at our Tiny Black House at 16 Foster Street Montpelier, VT 05602
