By Tamara Endicott
HQ 41 | WINTER/SPRING 2001
Drifting through the propped open corner door of 1555 3rd Avenue is the smell of soul food and the sound of music and conversation. Calamity Café, founded in July 1992 and one of Huntington’s landmark restaurants, offers more than just a taste bud-tempting menu. Husband and wife proprietors Roy Clark and Terre Thomas have created an atmosphere where everyone feels at home.
The cafe attracts a wide range of patrons, which was the primary goal of Roy and Terre from the very beginning. The split dining room allows families the opportunity to enjoy dining with their children with one side also offering late night food, cocktails and entertainment.
“Our patron range runs the whole gamut,” says Roy. “We’ve had people from Chuck Chambers and Governor Wise to kids with mohawks, green hair and tattoos. We also get everybody else in between, which is one of the neat things we like about the place. We’re really just the kind of place, lacking any pretension, that anyone can go to and relax and have a good time without having to worry about anything.”
The motto “Saloon and Salvation” hangs on the mirror of the well-worn bar and is the gathering place for most of the regulars. Faithful patron Anderson Charles came to the United States from Grenada in 1988 and has felt more comfortable at Calamity Café than anywhere else in Huntington?
“I can sit here and talk to people and have interesting conversations,” says Anderson in a melodic Caribbean accent. “There are a lot of unique people that come here. I’m really comfortable here. I think a lot of people feel comfortable here, because you can come in and just sit around and talk. The atmosphere creates good political and religious discussions and that’s what I like most about it. They have a reggae band that comes in here sometimes, so that’s pretty cool, too, being from the Caribbean, y’know.”
The variety of music Roy and Terre offer is as eclectic as the people they serve. “We’ve had everything in terms of entertainment,” says Roy. “We try to do a lot of things that you don’t hear anywhere else. One night we had a bluegrass band that did Jimi Hendrix cover songs. We’ve had some world class people like Adrian Legg who is a classical guitarist. Terre also hosts the Northeast Finals Poetry Slam every year and the winner for that competition goes onto the Walapalooza Spoken Word stage.”
The menu offers something for everybody. “We call our menu Southwest Soul Food,” says Roy. “It’s kind of an eclectic mix. It’s a little bit of southwest, a little bit southern and there’s definitely some New Orleans mixed in, too. We try to blend things so it’s not just the usual stuff. So many times you find just the same things on everybody’s menu in town. We try to put a little different twist on things.”
The owners of the Calamity Café chose the following recipe to share with the readers of the Huntington Quarterly.
JALAPENO BASIL PESTO
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 cups olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted golden brown and cooled
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 large garlic cloves, chopped and mashed to a paste with 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 whole fresh, diced jalapeño pepper (How spicy do you like it? You may want to add more!)
Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pesto will keep about one week if covered with plastic wrap. It is extremely versatile and goes wonderfully with a variety of foods, such as over steamed vegetables or as a sandwich spread.
JALAPENO BASIL PESTO SAUCE
1 quart whipping cream
4 to 6 tsp. basil pesto
to taste diced jalapeño chilies
Heat whipping cream in a saucepan just until boiling, add pesto and stir with a whisk until blended. Add more jalapeños if desired. Simmer at a very low boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching until sauce thickens. Spoon over your favorite pasta and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
We like to finish the dish with our tender-grilled seasoned shrimp and some grilled tomato wedges. Just sauté some large, peeled and deveined fresh shrimp in butter with a clove of minced garlic and seasonings (at the Café we use our special “Café Blend”). When the shrimp are almost done (don’t cook them too long or they’ll get tough — just until opaque in the center, about 3 minutes) add some fresh tomato wedges to the pan and sauté on both sides until soft and warm.
Top off your pasta with shrimp and tomatoes, and you’ve got one of our favorite and most popular dishes.
