At Kabawa, Paul Carmichael is not offering a softened idea of the Caribbean. Tucked away in East Village, he has built a restaurant around a cuisine too often flattened into sunshine shorthand, giving it structure, ambition and a point of view rooted in Barbados.
Momofuku describes the restaurant as deeply personal, rooted in Carmichael’s upbringing and built to offer a distinct perspective on Caribbean cuisine. That is the ground from which Faraway Places begins.
Mexico Meets the Islands
To open Faraway Places, Carmichael has invited Santiago Lastra of KOL for two nights on 7 and 8 May 2026. It is a smart first move. KOL, in Marylebone, holds one Michelin star and ranks 49th in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025. But the more interesting link is not its status. It is the connection between these two chefs.
Lastra and Carmichael are engaged in versions of the same deeper work. Both have taken cuisines that are too often reduced to postcard shorthand and rebuilt them far from home, using the ingredients, climate and agricultural realities around them. At KOL, Lastra filters Mexican culinary memory through British produce and seasonality. At Kabawa, Carmichael approaches Caribbean cooking through New York’s local supply and Caribbean-sourced ingredients, giving it shape, depth and contemporary range. In both cases, the result is neither a replica nor a cliché, but something original built through translation.
That is what gives this first edition of Faraway Places some perspective. Rather than a simple guest shift, it feels like a small declaration of intent. Kabawa seems to want this series to do more than import famous names for a sold-out night. The launch suggests a format built around chefs whose work can hold an actual conversation with Carmichael’s, rather than merely generating buzz. That is an inference, but a reasonable one given the series' framing and the choice of the first guest.
For these two nights, the format moves well beyond Kabawa’s regular $145 three-course prix fixe. This multi-course collaboration menu celebrating Caribbean and Mexican flavours, crafted just for the night, is listed at $400-$425 per person. It includes a welcome beverage, beverage pairings, a curated gift bag, and taxes and gratuities.
Practicalities
Restaurant: Kabawa, 8 Extra Place, New York City
Series: Faraway Places
Guest chef: Santiago Lastra, KOL, London
Dates: 7-8 May 2026
Price: $400-$425 per person, prepaid, includes: welcome beverage, pairings, gift bag, taxes and gratuities
Booking: OpenTable website