Culinary Arts

El Malecón Restaurant: A taste of Dominican Culture in New York City

Since 2000, most Dominican immigrants settled in New York City, which is home to more than one-half of the Dominicans in United States. Dominicans are now the largest immigrant group in New York City (The Newest New Yorkers, 2000). “Dominicans number somewhere north of 600,000 in the five boroughs, and you can experience much more of their culture in a weekend here [in New York] than you would in a month in an all-inclusive island resort” (Kugel).

Taking over after the retired Puerto Ricans, Dominican immigrants, who migrate to the United States often to escape poverty, are becoming quite successful in the restaurant business.

As the manager of El Malecón pointed out, and reviewers agree, the restaurants capture the essence of the Dominican-style food, which is appreciated by their fellow Dominican immigrants as well as other New Yorkers. Dominican restaurants are thriving in many areas of the city, but particularly Washington Heights and Inwood, which have become ethnic enclaves for Dominican immigrants.

“With a shot of Caribbean verve, and some first-rate cooking, enterprising immigrants from the Dominican Republic have invigorated Latin cuisine in New York, upgrading familiar rice-and-beans joints in neighborhoods from Park Slope in Brooklyn to the Upper West Side in Manhattan. As they did with New York's bodegas and neighborhood supermarkets, Dominican entrepreneurs have been buying up sluggish local diners and lunch counters, then transforming them into shiny, successful establishments” (McLane).

Restaurants aren’t the only popular places to find Dominican food in Washington Heights and Inwood. Dominican bakeries can be found all throughout these areas, selling delicious and inexpensive pastries, snacks, and baked goods with the complete flavor of the Dominican Republic.

Works Cited
Kugel, Seth. "Uptown in the Caribbean." The New York Times 28 Oct. 2007. 24 Apr. 2009 <http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/travel/28weekend.html?fta=y>.

McLane, Daisaan. "Dominican Restaurants: A New Beat in Nueva York." The New York Times 27 May 1992, New York ed., sec. C: 1.

The Newest New Yorkers, 2000. Rep. Oct. 2004. New York City Department of
City Planning. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://www.scribd.com/doc/322946/The-Newest-New-Yorkers-2000>.

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