About
Passion, Palate, Fire
U S
It all started in Middletown... It started with the love of fire and the respect for people... We have a place in our hearts for the
indigenous peoples on this planet that were dominated. The word barbecue comes from the original word barbicu, of the Taíno people.
The barbecue style of cooking for us was a natural choice... fire and meat... and more fire...
Coming to Meriden we had grand plans for a bakery, dry aging, craft cocktails, and technique driven plates that please... Hospitality is our number one goal.
We want everyone to feel good, food is a small part of it... we actually do care about every single one of you... and we should all care about each other.
T a í n o
means "good people" in their native language. They were a very peaceful tribe that
inhabitited the Greater and northern Lesser Antilles. Presently most people pronounce Taíno [?t?n?], with a Spanish accent. Spanish was however introduced
to the this hempisphere by Columbus in 1492. So it is not how the tribe would have said their own name. The islands were populated over the course of thousands
of years from the Amazon basin, most notably Venezuela. Sub cultures existed in some regions as travel over sea was somewhat limited and there
was partial isolation. Trading did take place however between the islands, they greatly utilized canoes to travel back and forth. It is estimated
that the Taino population was over 2.5 million in 1492, the year Columbus made landfall in the "new world". In school we all learn about the great
story of Columbus and his conquest, however they neglect to teach us about the indigenous peoples that were there first.
C H R I S T O P H E R
Columbus was born in Italy and remained there for most of his childhood. He later moved to Portugal where he sought sponsorship for a his
great journey
to the new world. The Portugese were unwilling to sponsor such a journey and it was at this time that Columbus moved to Spain. After seven years of
courtship with the Spanish monarchy, an agreement was finally reached to send Columbus in search for a faster route to Asia. A decision that would
change world history! Think about it in 1492 the world was basically split into two hemispheres that had no contact. Columbus essentially opened up
the flood gates connecting the two, and this wasn't a good thing... On his first journey he took three ships, The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa
Maria (sank on this journey), with about 100 men in the crew. In 1493, his second voyage to the new land, there were 17 ships and over 1000 men.
Within 10 years, THOUSANDS of men and many ships had arrived or were in route to the new world from Spain and Portugal, followed closely by the
French and British. The population in the Americas was absolutely decimated! The Aztecs, Incas, the hundreds of tribes from Chile to Canada, all
suffered. By 1550 the Taino had gone from 2 million down to hundreds and Taino culture was all but extinct a few years later. Puerto Rico has the
strongest connection to the Taino people, with some folks being as much as 15%. Ever wonder why South America and Central America all speak Spanish?
B A R A B I C U
means "sacred fire pit" in the Taino native language. No the native language was NOT Spanish. It is widely believed by etymologists
that this is the origin of
the word barbecue. The Taino also had other words that were adapted by the English language such as hammock, canoe, hurricane, and tobacco.
F I N A L L Y...
The Taíno were a beautiful, loving, and peaceful people. They have been all but forgotten in the history books. Our mission
is to have them remembered and to
educated the public. We pay hommage to them for their contributions to the world. Our goal is to open the first Taino Museum in the United States.
We would also like to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day. Finally we would like the history books\schools to include the regional
indigenous tribe history. In Middletown it would be the Wangunk, the last known picture of this tribe is on our gift cards.