It's what we like

ANA & CARL

It's what we like

Ana Silva and Carl Cassel are co-everything.

The couple are lovers of art, parents of five children and restaurateurs who work and live in the same building.

Carl and Ana on their steps

HOME

We were scheduled to meet Ana Silva and Carl Cassel at their home—a two story addition which they built above their restaurant, Harlem Underground. There is nothing unique about living above a restaurant but if you are Ana and Carl, you will find a way to make your apartment standout. A few hours before opening we were instructed to come around the back of the building. Our first vision as we turned the corner was the brightly coloured graffiti that adorns the laneway which sits south of Queen— the walls of the buildings and garage doors have all been painted by local artists. A few more steps and the three stacked shipping containers that make the back part of their home come into view.

Right away one notices this isn’t a conventional home. There is a mix of materials and styles, yet nothing seems out of place. Steel, marble and concrete coexist with natural woods, iron pipes and glass to create a modern, industrial feel. A fun part of the tour was peering out the curved “bubble” window at the Harlem Underground patio below.

The containers, which were fastened to the building, actually make up a small portion of the total living space—the staircase from ground level, part of the living room on the second floor and part of the master bedroom on the third floor. “You can see the container in the back corner”, explained Ana, “the rest of the addition is traditional construction.”

And just how long does it take to build a palace out of shipping containers? “Once we started digging, the project took three years…but there were six years of paperwork and ten years of planning.” Being the first residential unit to build using corrugated metal containers came with it’s challenges, “they had no information about it. The city planners were great and supported us, but we had to start from scratch."

The art which decorates the walls is also striking and vibrant. “Carl is an artist and I studied art history in university, it’s what we like. Many of the paintings are Carl’s and some were painted by friends”.

The other thing that one notices is the strong bond of family—part of the reason Ana and Carl decided to sell their house and build over the restaurant was to keep the family unit tight. “We have five children ranging from age five to 22 and the older ones work in the restaurant— living at the same location is very convenient” In addition to raising children and helping run a restaurant, Ana is also a yoga instructor— teaching classes from home.

Restaurant, art studio, gallery, yoga studio, office and most importantly home—Ana and Carl have created a space that has purpose.

Carl and Ana's youngest kids, Zava(5) and Lua(7)

A left over piece from an art show that was held at Harlem Underground

HARLEM UNDERGROUND

If you’re looking to hang out in one of the hippest neighbourhoods in the world, look no further than Toronto’s Art and Design District. This stretch of Queen Street between Bathurst and Gladstone is filled with galleries, bars, nightclubs and restaurants. One of its mainstays is Harlem Underground, which has been a part of the area’s colourful landscape for over 10 years.

This is the second incarnation of the restaurant—the first being Harlem East which was also located in Toronto, at Church and Richmond. “Harlem was doing well, and Carl was running Irie Food Joint at this location, so we decided to convert it to Harlem Underground. Eventually, we sold the first location to concentrate on one,” said co-owner Ana Silva.

This is a multi-faceted venue—restaurant, live venue, night club and art gallery which also holds private functions. In fact, their tagline is very self-explanatory music, food, art and cocktails—Ana explains:

Music

Harlem East had almost daily music where Harlem Underground has lots of live, but we bring in more DJs because the scene is more geared toward that. Some of the staff are DJs and in the past some of them were performers as well. Monday is Jazz night. During the summer we open the front window and jazz is bellowing onto Queen Street—people love it! Neil Brathwaite is a jazz sax player who brings musician friends to perform with him every week. We also have live music on Fridays and DJs on Saturday.

Food

The food is a Caribbean-southern fusion with lots of choices. Our southern fried chicken & waffles have helped make us famous, in fact we have many people that drive in from the suburbs to eat them. Right now my personal favourite is our veg curry roti. Many of our recipes are fairly complex. When you’re dealing with Caribbean food there are a lot of spices that go into the dishes. Food is Carl’s domain—we use his recipes—he came up with the menu. Some are very old from the Irie days and some are new, for example, we just added jerk pork.

Art

Art has always been a strong component and it hangs on all the walls. It’s what we love, so it’s something we’ve always incorporated. We’ve had multiple local artists do shows here, otherwise we display my husband’s paintings.

Wall art by Leandro Illescas

Cocktails

Naturally we have a lot of Rum based cocktails, but The Bloody Jerk is without a doubt our biggest. It is basically a Caesar garnished with a delicious skewer of mini fried chicken and waffles, candied plantain and a crunchy deep-fried pickle.

HARLEM UNDERGROUND 745 QUEEN ST. W, TORONTO HARLEMRESTAURANT.COM

The second eldest child, Jodie(19) is a bartender at the restaurant

When you think Jamaican cuisine, spicy jerk chicken is probably the first thing that comes to mind. It is served throughout the island from roadside shacks to fancy restaurants which makes it indisputably a Jamaican tradition. Just as (or debatably more) famous, is Jamaican rum and since gastronomy shouldn’t just be on your plate, Harlem Underground decided to share a recipe that can be consumed from a glass—Ragtime Rum Punch.

Ragtime rum punch

SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS:

Ice

1 oz rum

1/2 oz Wray & Nephew Jamaican Rum

2 oz Tropical punch

2 oz Passion juice

2 oz Mango juice

Grenadine syrup

1 oz Guava juice

1 Orange Wedge

INSTRUCTIONS:

Serving Details – use a short rockglassAdd ice to metal shaker.

Pour rum, tropical punch, mango and passion fruit juice over the ice.

Shake.

Pour into glass.

Add a splash of grenadine syrup.

Top with guava juice.

Garnish with orange wedge. Enjoy!

86LUSO LIFE

WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO

PHOTOS: NOAH GANHÃO