Centre County’s dining scene has a distinctive addition with a new restaurant offering a taste of the Caribbean’s Latin flavors.
La Caribbean Corner opened this week in the Nittany Mall, serving authentic Dominican and Puerto Rican dishes in a bright and welcoming atmosphere.
“Our food, culture-wise, is very flavorful. There’s nothing bland,” said Areidy Orlando, one of the four women owners of La Caribbean Corner. “So we wanted to share that. We feel passionate about our food. We’re confident in our food. We know when most people try it, they’re going to love it. There’s nothing not to like, really. And there was nothing like it around. There’s other Latin cultures, like, for example, Mexican food, but no Caribbean food.”
Orlando teamed up with Yasmin Pichardo, Pichardo’s daughter, Ashley Quach, and Pichardo’s sister Selenia Molina to create La Caribbean Corner. Each had moved to State College — Orlando from New York, Pichardo and Quach from Allentown and Molina from New Jersey — and shared a passion for the Latin food of their Caribbean heritages, faith and family.
Pichardo’s cooking is beloved by all who taste it, Quach said, and the women found that the foods of their roots were hard to find among State College area restaurants.
“My mom loves to cook, and we noticed when we moved down here that there was not a lot of Latin food, just the typical ones that are around,” Quach said. “Where we came from there’s a lot of Latins around there. So, obviously, coming here and experiencing other foods around, you kind of just miss it.”
Orlando, Pichardo and Molina also share a bond as single mothers.
“We’re single mothers and we work really hard,” Orlando said. “We came from our countries here. We started with nothing and we worked really, really hard to get to where we are and now teaching the kids. I have my kids, they’re little still, 11 and 9, and we all learn how hard parents work. We just want to accomplish more from all the hard work that we’ve done as parents. So that’s something I’m really proud about, that we all are working single mothers and here we are. We created something.”
The restaurant had been about a year in the making before opening on Tuesday. The menu is still evolving, and will have different features each week.
Some of the selections have included stewed pork ribs, stewed chicken, fried chicken, pernil and chicharrones. Empanadas are a staple, as are flavorful rice and beans. And the menu will eventually also include meals based around the use of plantains, a distinguishing feature of Latin Caribbean cooking.
Dominican and Puerto Rican dishes are largely characterized by the use of sazón seasoning and sofrito, a base preparation of vegetables, herbs and spices.
“Dominican food is not spicy. It’s flavorful, but not spicy,” Molina explained. “And not everybody does the same sazón. We make it here.”
“Everything we make, we make ourselves,” Orlando added. “We never buy anything already done.”
La Caribbean Corner offers food to go or to dine-in inside the colorful and lively restaurant in suite 308 at the southwest end of the mall (use Entrance B). Staffed by family and with upbeat music overhead, it’s an inviting environment.
“We always cook with music. That’s probably why the food tastes so good,” Orlando said. “We’re always singing and dancing in the kitchen. So that’s always part of it. We just want to treat people the way that we say ‘welcome to mi casa.’ You know, this is our home.”
“We want to give you a little taste of what we do,” Quach added.
La Caribbean Corner is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday (except this coming Sunday, Feb. 9, which will be a rare day of rest.)
The response to the restaurant so far has been very positive.
“A lot of people have [commented] on State College Foodies on Facebook and on Instagram. People are like raving,” Orlando said. “They’re loving the food, so we’re happy. We knew. We were confident. We jumped in to do this because we knew people were going to love it. If we were doubtful about that, there’s no way we would have even tried.”
