Le Chalet du Terroir (211 McGuinness Blvd.), a new Haitian cafe with coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and more, opened last month at the address that was previously home to Himalayas Newa Cafe, a Nepali coffeeshop that served the neighborhood for about a year.
Although the two cafes are not affiliated, Le Chalet du Terroir’s owner Pascale Tondreau Kerolle kept momos, which are Nepali dumplings, on the menu for Himalayas’ customers. “We season them a l’Haitienne,” Kerolle noted.
The rest of the menu is Kerolle’s creation. “I am from Haiti, so the taste is Haitian, made for everyone. Everything is homemade, even the muffins are baked by my daughter,” the owner told Greenpointers.
Le Chalet du Terroir’s beverage menu offers coffee drinks like cold brew and lattes, iced tea, hot chocolate, and teas including the Gingembre, which is an organic spicy ginger tea. There is also an entire menu of smoothies with a variety of fruit ingredients.
The sandwich menu offers French classics like a tartine de thon with tuna, the poulet gourmand with chicken, and the croissant royale with egg, cheese, and avocado. Salad options include a protein bowl with chicken and a hard boiled egg, the Mediterranean chickpea with mozzarella, and the tout koule, which is like a mixed salad with purple cabbage. There are also pastries including croissants, bagels, waffles, mini pancakes, and muffins.
One full page of the menu is dedicated to soups, including ones with momos. The dumplings can be made with beef, chicken, or vegetables. There’s also noodle soup with chicken, egg, or vegetables, and two signature soups available only one day per week. Soup Pen, or Haitian bread soup, is offered on Tuesdays, while Soup Libète is available on Sundays.
Soup Libète, known in Haiti as Soup Joumou, is a Haitian specialty. It’s made with squash and other vegetables, beef, pasta, and spices.
“We choose to call it Liberty Soup because it relates to Haiti’s independence from France in 1804,” Kerolle explained. “The Haitian slaves used to cook it for their masters, but were not allowed to drink it. So, when they took their independence on January 1, 1804, they cooked and drank a lot of it. Since then, every year on January 1, every Haitian household in the world cooks and drinks this soup to celebrate our Independence Day.”
“It is so famous that it became a UNESCO Patrimoine,” Kerolle proudly said of Soup Libète’s cultural heritage status.
Le Chalet du Terroir is open Sunday through Thursday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. It’s closed on Saturdays.
More power to them. It seemed that every time a restaurant closes because of the terrible conditions here from no parking, rent, insurance, labor etc. etc. a new more expensive one opens. We now have more trendy wine bars than Alaska has ice.
If somebody can tell me how somebody can afford these places, let me know.