Kabawa – Barbados at the pass, in the old Momofuku Ko room

Kabawa occupies the narrow, graffiti-covered dead end of Extra Place in the East Village, in the very room where David Chang once ran the tasting-menu temple Momofuku Ko. Where Ko served foie gras shavings and matcha mille-feuille to a dozen diners at a time, Kabawa turns the same open kitchen and horseshoe counter toward the whole Caribbean, as remembered by one chef: Paul Carmichael, who grew up in Barbados, began cooking family dinners by the age of eight, and went on to train in New York before leading Momofuku's Sydney outpost, Seiōbo. Kabawa opened in the spring of 2025, Momofuku's first full new restaurant in years, and has since been named the city's top table by the New York Times and the best restaurant in America at Food & Wine's Global Tastemakers Awards. It is selected in the MICHELIN Guide.

01The room and the setting

The address alone tells a story: 8 Extra Place is a dead-end alley off the Bowery, the kind of back lane that only East Village regulars ever notice. Kabawa took over the space vacated when Momofuku Ko closed, keeping the open kitchen and counter seating but repainting the mood entirely. A custom mosaic anchors the room with scenes pulled from everyday Caribbean life, and the brighter palette and counter-side energy replace Ko's hushed austerity with something warmer and louder.

Every detail is deliberate. The playlist runs on instrumentals, including original recordings by Carmichael's own cousin in Barbados, and a bathroom themed around the island plays a 2025 speech by Prime Minister Mia Mottley to the African Union, its walls hung with mismatched-frame family portraits sourced from the restaurant's own staff. It is a room built less as a concept than as a homesick chef's version of a family house.

02The chef

Paul Carmichael was standing on a kitchen chair working a frying pan at three years old, and cooking full meals for his family in Barbados by the time he was eight. He moved to New York at twenty to study at the Culinary Institute of America, where his senior thesis examined the food and history of the Caribbean — the subject he has circled back to ever since. His early New York career reads like a tour of the city's most serious kitchens: Wylie Dufresne's wd~50, Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit, and Momofuku's own Má Pêche, with a stint at Perla in Puerto Rico along the way.

Insider tip

Open Tue–Sat 5:30–10pm; book via OpenTable up to 14 days ahead.

From there he moved to Sydney to run Momofuku Seiōbo, which became one of Food & Wine's World's Best Restaurants in 2020 under his direction, before Momofuku asked him to build his own project back in New York. He is now the group's executive chef, overseeing kitchens across the company while running Kabawa and Bar Kabawa himself.

03The cooking

Kabawa's menu is a three-course, $150 prix fixe, excluding drinks, tax and gratuity, with several options to choose from at each stage — starter, main and dessert — plus an unannounced extra dish decided on the day. Ingredients run on two tracks: New York produce from the city's own neighbourhoods, and specialty items shipped directly from the Caribbean. The approach is personal rather than pan-regional — Carmichael's own route through Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and Martinique rather than a composite postcard of the islands.

04What to order

Among the starters, the Breadfruit Tostón arrives with octopus, dog sauce and capers, alongside Pepper Scallops dressed with sorrel, scotch bonnet and thyme, and Cassava Dumplings stewed in creole sauce with cucumber. For the main course, the "Jerk" Duck Sausage with poblano and the Goat with spicy scallop creole sit beside two large-format dishes built for sharing: the Chuletas Can Can with recaíto, a Puerto Rican-inflected pork chop, and a Bone-In Prime Ribeye finished with cassareep. To close, the Coconut Turnover for two — caramelised coconut and cream cheese — runs alongside the Bolo di Kashupete, a cashew cake lifted with the malt tonic Supligen.

05Wine and drinks

The wine list leans toward the under-visited corners of the map, including bottles aged in the cellar inherited from Momofuku Ko. Guests may bring their own bottle for a $50 corkage fee per 750ml, capped at one bottle per person, as long as it does not already appear on the list.

Next door at 12 Extra Place, Bar Kabawa handles the daiquiris: a rotating list built on rums from Probitas, Chairman's Reserve and Real McCoy, alongside patties and raw-bar bites, under oversized art installations by Raelis Vasquez.

06When to go and booking

Kabawa is open Tuesday to Saturday, 5.30pm to 10pm, with reservations accepted through OpenTable up to fourteen days ahead for parties of up to eight. The room is wheelchair accessible, dietary needs can be accommodated on request, and there is no take-out or delivery — this is a room built to be sat in, not collected from.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.