Samantha Seltzer - Trailside Discovery Camp
Google
My friend and I went to Talia’s for the kosher Haitian popup back in July. My friend keeps kosher but was also vegan, so we were looking for things to order that we would both want. We ended up with the classic stew, I got the meat version and she got the vegan. I tried hers and it tasted EXACTLY the same. You’d think that means they did such an excellent job replicating the meat flavors, but to us it felt more like the meat was an afterthought in the stew. They say they bring in chefs from these cultural backgrounds (Haitian chef was Haitian, their Indian popups have been Indian chefs) but to me it felt like they must’ve told her the audience can’t handle the full flavor of her food 🫣 I felt bad, as I’m sure she’s a great chef, but the food we tried didn’t have any strong flavors, and certainly none that stood out as unique to us. Our expectations were sky high as we both travel a lot and I eat dairy out, so we weren’t sure what we were expecting… I just think we were hoping for more brightness and shock value than this. In NYC, you can try an authentic dish on almost every street corner from a part of the globe you may have never heard of, but it’s the best thing you’ve ever had. Here, the food was fine and unassuming, but did not blow us away with any incredible flavors. I want to keep coming back to popups but please allow the chefs full creative control of their meals! We like Talia’s and I do not want this fi be seen as a negative review, but I would love for them to prove to us that their popups can be truly authentic. :)
(This same friend stopped being vegan and went to the Indian popup more recently and reported a similar experience).