The Breadfruit restaurant opened at First and Pierce Streets in 2008, and the Rum Bar joined the party in 2010. The restaurant and bar, known for its Caribbean cuisine and vast rum selection, became a Valley staple.
But the eatery closed its doors 12 years later in March 2020 due to the pandemic, leaving many Phoenicians longing for jerk chicken and sweet plantains.
Now, customers can get a taste of the menu at downtown cocktail bar Bitter & Twisted, which as of late September, offers a limited rendition of The Breadfruit's menu. Expect favorites such as jerk chicken, shrimp, and pork, Red Stripe Curried Shrimp, and accompaniments like sweet plantains, basmati rice and peas, which are actually red kidney beans, and cassava chips, a healthier alternative to potato chips made from yuca root, a staple Jamaican crop.
The Jerk Shrimp is spicy and smoky, topped with mango habanero sauce. Fried green plantains add a nice crunch.
Natasha Yee
But when Gemini Pizza, a New York-style pop-up by Racan Alhoch of Saint Pasta, ended its tenure inside the space in mid-September, it presented the perfect opportunity to collaborate, Allen and Simon agree.
"We had a discussion about what Ross would do next when Gemini Pizza moved out. This was a simple way to hop into an already operating kitchen," Allen says.
The collaboration between the swanky cocktail bar and Jamaican restaurant will last about six months, Allen says. He plans to reopen the original eatery in the spring of 2023.
While Allen always intended to reopen the restaurant, he also needed time to dedicate to his new endeavor, Big Marble Organics, a carbonated beverage company that makes ginger beer and tonic water. Allen founded the company after becoming unsatisfied with other ginger beer options on the market. So he decided to make his own, using fair trade producers, and organic and vegan ingredients. Sustainable and ethical practices are important to Allen, and have always been integral to The Breadfruit.
Now that he's officially back in the culinary realm following the launch of his drink business, he plans to stay.
Allen originally opened The Breadfruit in 2008 with his then-wife, Chef Danielle Leoni. He has imported recipes from his native country of Jamaica to the quaint yet sophisticated eatery ever since. The two signed a 20-year lease renewal in February 2020, prior to closing the next month due to COVID-19.
"I'm just not done telling The Breadfruit's story," Allen says. "And I'm not completely sure what part two of that story is, but we're keeping the same ethos."
Though the eatery has sat vacant, sans the scent of sustainable seared scallops seeping through its small dining room, the lease at The Breadfruit has remained active. Allen has a couple of updates up his sleeve, namely new paint and paneling, plus the debut of a takeout menu, but says that the roots of the original restaurant will remain the same.
"I have been in Phoenix for thirty years now, but I still go to the island as much as I can," Allen says of the beloved Caribbean country he grew up in. "I hate to call it authentic, because people tend to place judgment around what that means. But it's an expression of the cuisine seen through the eyes of a Jamaican kid who loves the desert. Or at least, it's my artistic vision for it."
At Bitter & Twisted, Chef Shane Jackson is tasked with making The Breadfruit's food. He came by way of acclaimed Southern kitchen The Larder and the Delta, for which Chef Stephen Jones is a two-time James Beard Award semi-finalist. Jackson is working on mastering the recipes that Allen and Leoni perfected during their tenure at The Breadfruit.
"Jackson and the team are getting their bearings right now, learning their way around the new kitchen, and settling into these first two weeks," Allen says, explaining his own role of "providing inspiration for the food of my heritage."
On a recent visit to the cocktail bar, Jackson stood at the smoker inside the bar's kitchen, charring chicken and shrimp with a grin on his face and sweat on his brow. Simon is also excited to have The Breadfruit's menu at his bar.
"This type of menu is not what people expect when it comes to bar food," Simon says. "There are usually lots of deep-fried options, and nothing very good. But The Breadfruit offers healthy alternatives that are actually exciting. And ones that people can easily share."
While sharing is encouraged, the food is certainly good enough to keep to oneself. The grilled-to-perfection jerk shrimp are at once juicy, spicy, and smoky, served over crispy tostones, fried green plantains, and topped with mango habanero sauce. The accompanying rice and peas, fragrant and fluffy purple-tinged basmati with red kidney beans, add comfort and sustenance.
To balance the depth of flavor, sip on something from Bitter & Twisted's boozy cocktail menu. It has gleaned many distinctions, like a top ten designation for "World's Best Cocktail Menu" from Tales of the Cocktail, an international cocktail conference that has been held in New Orleans for the past 20 years.
Bitter & Twisted has plenty of rum, including award-winning Regalo de Vida Ron Imperial Rum from nearby Elgin, Arizona, that goes down a little too smoothly.
But those looking for The Breadfruit's original cocktail menu, or its curated cigar collection housed inside a wooden humidor, will have to wait a little longer. Until then, enjoy a taste of the Caribbean at Bitter & Twisted.
"Jackson and the team are getting their bearings right now, learning their way around the new kitchen, and settling into these first two weeks," Allen says, explaining his own role of "providing inspiration for the food of my heritage."
On a recent visit to the cocktail bar, Jackson stood at the smoker inside the bar's kitchen, charring chicken and shrimp with a grin on his face and sweat on his brow. Simon is also excited to have The Breadfruit's menu at his bar.
"This type of menu is not what people expect when it comes to bar food," Simon says. "There are usually lots of deep-fried options, and nothing very good. But The Breadfruit offers healthy alternatives that are actually exciting. And ones that people can easily share."
While sharing is encouraged, the food is certainly good enough to keep to oneself. The grilled-to-perfection jerk shrimp are at once juicy, spicy, and smoky, served over crispy tostones, fried green plantains, and topped with mango habanero sauce. The accompanying rice and peas, fragrant and fluffy purple-tinged basmati with red kidney beans, add comfort and sustenance.
To balance the depth of flavor, sip on something from Bitter & Twisted's boozy cocktail menu. It has gleaned many distinctions, like a top ten designation for "World's Best Cocktail Menu" from Tales of the Cocktail, an international cocktail conference that has been held in New Orleans for the past 20 years.
Bitter & Twisted has plenty of rum, including award-winning Regalo de Vida Ron Imperial Rum from nearby Elgin, Arizona, that goes down a little too smoothly.
But those looking for The Breadfruit's original cocktail menu, or its curated cigar collection housed inside a wooden humidor, will have to wait a little longer. Until then, enjoy a taste of the Caribbean at Bitter & Twisted.
The Breadfruit & Rum Bar at Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlor
One West Jefferson Street
602-340-1924
