Looking through Da Glass Kitchen

Sat, Oct 22nd 2011, 09:25 AM

Erika Robinson has enjoyed quite a journey to get to where she is today, operating a takeaway that sells food that both meat eaters and vegetarians can partake in. From the world of banking and finance to flipping omelettes out of a shack on the side of Carmichael Road, she's now found her niche on her family's homestead on Hawkins Hill, operating Da Glass Kitchen.

The food that Robinson has been serving for the past four years is delicious and famous around town -- for those in the know -- but at the same time, it's almost still a well-kept secret.

Fans of Da Glass Kitchen offerings swarm the spot for vegetarian breakfast items like scrambled tofu, grilled tofu, veggie burrito or a hot slam bam made with veggies and cheese.  Regular Bahamian breakfast items like tuna salad, steamed mackerel and steak and eggs satisfy the carnivorous set.

For lunch, vegetarians can take their pick of veggie burgers, tofu or curried veggie medley, or a sautéd veggie wrap, to meals like sautéed vegetables or BBQ tofu, BBQ veggie steak strip or curried tofu veggie medley served with veggie rice or white rice.  Meat lovers can enjoy their fill of burgers from beef to turkey, curried chicken wraps, old-fashioned sandwiches like tuna melt, sausage and cheese or meals like curried chicken, BBQ steak or a grilled chicken medley with veggie or rice.

"One of the reasons why I started the restaurant is because I have more of a vegetarian diet, and there are very few places where I can go to eat in Nassau and choose from a menu.  Generally, I may get a potato or steamed veggies, or maybe a salad, but there was nothing that would really satisfy me.  And I wanted everybody to be able to eat at the same location.  If I'm your friend, most likely you are not vegetarian, which means I have to find someplace for you to eat and then go somewhere else to find someplace for me to eat. I wanted both people to be able to eat at the same place, and this is why we have not only vegetarian foods, but foods for everyone to enjoy," said Robinson.

Having enjoyed a vegetarian diet for 15 years, Robinson is also cognizant of the fact that most vegetarians are conscious about how their food is prepared and that there is no cross-contamination with meat products.

At Da Glass Kitchen, their food preparation is front and center.  The minute you push open their old-fashioned screen door and step up to the counter your view is of the entire kitchen and what is going on.  You can see chefs chopping cilantro, slicing mushrooms, dicing peppers and stirring a pot of curry chicken.  And you will never see them cross contaminate ingredients for a vegetarian dish with a meat-eater's dish.

"We have an open kitchen, because someone like myself -- and most vegetarians I know -- are very particular about how our food is being prepared.  We want to make sure there is no cross contamination at all, so people get to actually see their food and how it's being prepared," says the 38-year-old Robinson.

While everything on the menu she says is a must-have item and meat eaters would actually find themselves enjoying a veggie option if they gave it a chance, Da Glass Kitchen is famous for its burgers which Robinson says accounts for 90 percent of her sales.  From delicious beef to a succulent, juicy turkey, veggie and a grilled chicken breast, there's a burger offering, hot off the grill, to suit every palate.  Their wraps are also big sellers.

The health conscious Robinson offers healthier alternatives to all of her menu items. Fried foods do not show up anywhere on her menu.  Her remedy for those persons that need French fries on the side of a burger is to offer sautéed garlic potatoes or a garden salad, or a curried veggie medley.

The daughter of Bahamian sporting legend Thomas Augustus Robinson and a Mexican mother, Robinson also "dips" her hat to her Mexican heritage as well with a few Mexican influences on her menu, like her fish omelette with Mexican salsa and tortillas.

"We offer foods that nobody else offers and that's what I think makes us unique. It's pretty much about our product, the way we view the customer, our customer service, our dedication to the preparation of the food, to the final product, and that's why I think I can truly say our final ingredient is love, because we love what we do."

For those people weighing the option of trying a vegetarian dish, her recommendation is to start with the scrambled tofu, which is flavorful due to the different herbs they use.  It also has more of an egg consistency and is a dish meat eaters will identify with because visual is just as important as taste.

Robinson, who loves food, says she came across her cooking skills through observation and taking the time to read, watch and learn about foods, seasonings and herbs.  For her cooking is the greatest entertainment -- more than music, art or books.

And her restaurant was named Da Glass Kitchen for two reasons, one being you can see right through the kitchen, but chiefly in honor of a woman by the name of Katie Glass who Robinson met when she shot a documentary with Maria Govan about HIV/AIDS six years ago.  While shooting the documentary she learned that Glass has lived next door to Robinson's grandparents, Cyril H. and Willisie Isadora Robinson.  Robinson had not known Glass (who has since passed) as a child.

"What was most significant for me about meeting her [Glass] was that she taught me so much about living in a glass house, what it is to not throw stones and what it is to not judge people.  She was one of the most beautiful people I've ever met and just made some wrong decisions, and so the restaurant was named after her."

As the secret that is Da Glass Kitchen and its delicious food continues to circulate, Robinson's immediate goal is to expand the back of the takeaway so her patrons can enjoy outdoor dining.

And she's proud of the fact that her food is bringing people into Hawkins Hill, rather than her taking her operation to a more mainstream, commercial location.

"When we move the seating outside -- the backyard where I grew up, where I climbed the guinep tree and the avocado tree, where I picked the mangos and the hog plums, that's the backyard I want people to be able to come in and enjoy their lunch and breakfast, so it will be a cultural experience."

As much as she calls Da Glass Kitchen a takeaway, Robinson does have seating for at least 14 people between the few tables she has set up and the counter space, if you can find a space.

Starting from a one-man show, Da Glass Kitchen currently has a staff complement of six, including Robinson.  She says her story is one of passion and the will to succeed.

"We started out with just me, and no one would walk in.  I had more of a delivery service, and one stove and one refrigerator.  I worked the kitchen.  I was blessed to have a building, and now I've been able to expand, and more and more people know about us.  Our logo is Da Glass Kitchen: Where our final ingredient is love, and that's what it's about for me."

Da Glass Kitchen operates out of what was Robinson's grandmother's old Tuck Shop called Tony's Dry Goods.  Just being in the location where she is now at gives her pleasure, because it's where she grew up.

"My grandparents are such a strong influence, and have been such a strong influence on the entire family, and as the youngest grandchild, I spent a phenomenal amount of time with my grandparents, at the home and in this shop.  So it's a very personal feeling for me to be here, knowing that they would approve, knowing that hard work is something they taught us from the very beginning, as well as my dad, because his whole story is about discipline, dedication, determination and desire -- the four D's, -- and he was always showing that to his kids.  It was about teaching us that you have to work to get what you want and that is what [Da Glass Kitchen] is for me.

Da Glass Kitchen opens for breakfast at 7-ish, Thursday through Saturday -- and Robinson stresses the 'ish part, but she says they try not to open any later than 7:15 a.m.  Lunch is served 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 12 noon through 6 p.m., Thursday and Friday.  She encourages telephone orders, especially for the lunch rush between 12 noon and 2 p.m. when she says it gets really crazy.  The majority of their customers opt to telephone their order in and pick up.

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