The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Getting a Caribbean vibe
Restaurateur shares tropical recipes with New York roots.
Owner of Ms. Icey’s Kitchen in Decatur, and the new Apt. 4B in Buckhead, Sim Walker grew up in the restaurant business in New York City.
Walker’s single mother, Marva Layne, started out with a pastry shop called Sweetie Pie in Hell’s Kitchen. Later, Layne opened Island Spice, a Caribbean restaurant in the theater district, then Negril in Chelsea, and Negril Village in Greenwich Village, which is still in operation.
“I grew up doing everything from deliveries to dish-washing and line cook,” Walker says. “When you grow up as a restaurant kid, any job that there is to do, you pretty much do it.”
Walker briefly partnered in a Southern fusion restaurant in Brooklyn, called Soco. And in 2014, he opened another version of Negril Village on North Avenue in Midtown.
As a born and raised, lifelong New Yorker, Walker admits he came to Atlanta “kicking
and screaming.”
“I never had the intention of being in Atlanta,” he says. “I thought I was just going to help Negril Village get off the ground. But seven years later, I’m still in Atlanta.”
While Ms. Icey’s is a comfy Southern soul food tribute to Walker’s grandmother, Apt. 4B is all about taking Caribbean cooking to a more sophisticated level — with a clubby vinyl bar vibe that features a huge collection of records and a D J booth.
“Music is a heavy theme to what I do,” Walker says. “I guess I’m very much a New York City urban hip-hop baby.”
Talking about Apt. 4B, Walker declares that, as a concept, “it’s loaded.” And it has its roots in the apartment his family shared when he was a child.
“Apt. 2B was where we used to cook our food and deliver it around the corner to our restaurant,” he remembers. “It was the place where I grew up and learned to cook.”
Walker calls Apt. 4B a modern Caribbean restaurant, with food that is “really beautiful and engaging.”
“It’s a place for you to come and socialize, listen to music, eat good food, and feel the vibe,” Walker says. “I told the chefs that the type of food I wanted to have here is what we would eat if we were enter
taining with our friends in the apartment. The food is rooted in Caribbean flavors, but it’s not a typical Caribbean restaurant.”
Among the varied dishes you’ll find at 4B, there are Coconut Seafood Curry, Fried Snapper with Pickled Vegetables, and Herb Crusted Lamb with Polenta. And Walker shared home cook-friendly versions of those recipes with the AJC.
“Curry in general isn’t a typical Caribbean flavor,” he says. “Jamaican and Caribbean food is a collection of other cultures. Typically, the most popular curry dish in Jamaica is goat. But for something a little lighter and brighter, seafood is a great option.”
As for the fried snapper, Walker calls it “a classic Third World dish,” explaining that the processes of frying and pickling bring out the flavors and make it easier to keep. “When we top it with the pickled vegetables, not only does it bring out another layer of complexity, the vinegar actually preserves it,” he says.
Walker admits that lamb isn’t typically Caribbean, but the flavors fit the menu.
“That’s an example of a dish that’s not classically Caribbean,” he says. “In the restaurant, we make it with Haitian chocolate. But we didn’t want home cooks going crazy looking for that. In both versions, it’s heavily seasoned, and it’s a crowdpleasing dish in the restaurant.”