A hometown chef feeds the soul

Caribbean Munchies

By Marilyn Baer

Photos courtesy of Freetown Road Project

When Jersey City native Chef Claude Lewis went off to college, he had dreams of working in animation, studying special eff ects and motion graphics.

But the kitchens he worked in all his life never stopped beckoning.

“Food was so familiar to me from jobs I held in school as a dishwasher and a helper to being at home in the kitchen,” Lewis said. “Now, fast forward, and I’m opening a restaurant in the town I grew up in.”

If you’re a fan of cooking competition shows like me, the name Claude Lewis might sound familiar.

In 2019, Lewis, then the Executive Chef at Porta, competed and won Food Networks Chopped, turning gefi lte fi sh and margarita cotton candy into a West Indian fi sh stew.

Winning the show gave Lewis a national stage to showcase the food he loved and the momentum to fi nally open a place of his own.

An Eatery of his Own

Freetown Road Project opened in Journal Square at 640 Newark Avenue in December 2019 and pays homage to Lewis’s West Indian heritage.

The cozy spot features exposed brick walls, potted palm trees, and wooden family style tables with mismatched chairs surrounded by cushioned booths that evoke the welcoming sense of home and family it was inspired by.

The menu is a modern take on West Indian food or what Lewis calls “Caribbean munchies” or “Caribbean soul food” reminiscent of the food he grew up eating and likes to eat.

The name is rooted in family coming from a combination of the Antigua towns where Lewis’s parents are from. Freetown Road Village, where his father is from, and Old Road Village, where his mother is from.

Chef Claude Lewis

Family Ties

“While I was young, growing up in Jersey City my parents worked multiple jobs to allow my brothers and sisters and I to go to catholic school instead of public school,” Lewis said. “My father worked three jobs in kitchens and always brought food home, and my mother is a really great home cook who went to school in Antigua to cook as well. All my inspiration for my food comes from them.” Lewis serves up everything from beef patties, oxtail, and curry chicken, to craveable roti and triga you’ll end up falling in love with.

“When you open a restaurant, the food is supposed to mean something to you,” said Lewis. “That’s when it tastes the best.”

But realizing the dream of opening his own place hasn’t been without its hurdles as the pandemic spread across the area impacting all areas of business and life as we know it for over a year.

For Lewis and his team at Freetown Road Project that hasn’t meant just adhering to COVID-19 protocols and state guidelines but emphasizing the need to help others in the community who go without food.

Giving Back

Chef Claude Lewis

“The pandemic, in my opinion, has made a lot of people realize a lot of diff erent things that people kind of hazed over before in their daily routine,” Lewis said. “It’s allowed us to understand and see there are all of these people in need. When everyone is struggling, people who didn’t have before are in even worse conditions now. I feel blessed to be able to help.”

Lewis works with local organizations and churches to help feed those in need and operated as apart time soup kitchen early on in the pandemic. He now works with his sister Claudia Wheeler of The Salt Foundation to help community members in need.

The foundation works with grocery stores and food suppliers to collect food that would go to waste and then distribute it to those who are food insecure.

“We try to do everything that we can,” Lewis said. “That little extra help can go a long way. We all survive and grow as a society together.”

Freetown Road Project off ers delicious dine in, pickup, and delivery options Tuesday through Sunday.

For more information go to http://www. freetownroadprojectnj.com/home.–JCM