Daughter Honors Mom’s (Island) Spicy Legacy

The stubborn ox is no match for the Tracey family. 

Exhibit A: the Oxtail Lunch.

Nadine Tracey served up that dish on Tuesday at Island Spice Restaurant, nestled right off of Whalley Avenue at 459 Winthrop Ave. 

The restaurant is one of a growing number of Jamaican eateries across New Haven, which has seen an increase in recent years of immigrants from the Caribbean island country. 

The meal — which included oxtail, rice, beans, carrots, and cabbage — is one of Island Spice Restaurant’s most popular takeout dishes.

Tracey commanded every flavor to the surface of the ox’s pilled yet tender skin. Navigating the bony oxtail was similar to solving a burr puzzle, with each divot in the bone presenting a worthwhile challenge for the tongue. 

The carrots and cabbage held their own in their third of the aluminum foil take-out container. The soft carrots, ridged along the surface to remind the tongue they are there, left a sensation behind the nose that could only be described as ​“orange.” The cabbage, in true duo form, tagged along for the ride, startling the mouth with the meal’s only crunch.

Though often overlooked for its bland taste and ubiquity as a staple in cuisines around the globe, the brown rice cushioning — no, pillowing — the oxtail was almost overwhelming to the point of nostalgia: an aunt reminding you that there is more to be eaten, a second serving that will help you grow strong. Peppered with black beans, the rice served as a sharply soft juxtaposition to the caged oxtail.

Tracey and her mother, Donna, are experts at preserving taste across distances. Tracey arrived in the United States from Jamaica in 1987 at the age of 14. Her mother came in 1996 — bringing with her a taste of their home in Jamaica that echoes just as loudly nearly 30 years later.

Donna started Island Spice Restaurant in 2010, following a newfound dream of opening her own restaurant upon arriving in the U.S.

“She felt like the Jamaican places in the area weren’t serving the best quality food,” Tracey said, ​“so she wanted to bring real, authentic Jamaican cuisine to New Haven.”

“Cooking is one of those cultural things that is passed down. My mother’s parents taught her how to cook, and so when she came here, she wanted to share her gift, or her art.”

As for Tracey, she never expected a career in cooking: ​“I was in between jobs when we opened the restaurant. I just had a baby, so I wanted to stay home.” After extensive experience in data entry and bookkeeping, she stepped up to help get the restaurant off the ground.

Tracey was promoted to owner in 2018, when health problems prevented her mother from continuing to run it.

Island Spice Restaurant is one of two Jamaican restaurants in Beaver Hills to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. The eatery has regulars who come in for a quick bite before work or an energizing lunch.

On Tuesday afternoon, the restaurant saw about six customers in the span of an hour. While Island Spice offers restaurant seating in addition to take-out, its viewable food bar and poster-plastered walls are the main attraction.

The restaurant’s most popular dishes include oxtail and jerk chicken. Tracey’s favorite is stew peas — one of her mom’s specialities.

When asked why Jamaican cuisine has become so popular in New Haven, Tracey credited its flavor: ​“Jamaican food has more spice, more natural herbal flavors like thyme and scallions that boost the taste. It makes it more, what’s the word — palatable.”

Tracey has two daughters, whom she hopes will continue on her and her mother’s legacy: ​“I want to pass on the restaurant to my daughters, but it’s difficult because kids can want different careers. But I hope for success, and that people continue to enjoy Jamaican food — because it really is the best.”