Conflict Kitchen
Hungry customers line up outside Conflict Kitchen near the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland.
Richard Gesser, Chelsey Miller and Candace Gesser enjoy the Cuban cuisine at Conflict Kitchen.
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Heather Glenn discusses menu options with employee Camille Madonia.
Cuban delicacies: Roja vieja (in box), platanas maduros (plantains), and natilla (pudding cup)
Inga Meier has been drawn to work at Conflict Kitchen because of the message the restaurant creates.
Employees prepare boxes of Ropa vieja inside Conflict Kitchen.
The holidays are a time when family and friends can put their differences aside and break bread around the dinner table. This universal sentiment of food bringing people together is the concept of Conflict Kitchen, a restaurant in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood that serves food from countries and regions in which the United States is in conflict.
This tiny take-out restaurant creates its menu and theme by focusing on one country at a time. The current theme is Cocina Cubana, or the food, culture and politics of Cuba. Open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the restaurant currently serves authentic Cuban cuisine mixed with interactive information and events that attempt to educate customers on the geopolitical issues surrounding Cuba and the United States.
“We’re introducing people and cultures not addressed in the media that are in conflict with the U.S. government,” says co-director Jon Rubin. “It’s a way to humanize relations.”
Rubin, a Carnegie Mellon art professor, started the concept three years ago, first in East Liberty and then moving it to Oakland in April to its current location in Schenley Plaza at the corner of Schenley and Roberto Clemente drives. He and his co-directors, Dawn Weleski and head chef Robert Sayre, carefully craft the menu and message at Conflict Kitchen to be a true representation of the region they are portraying, without representing one issue over another.
Educating minds through stomachs
While the Conflict Kitchen encourages diners to learn more about the food they are eating, education is a side dish. Staff at the restaurant are well-versed in the culture of the food being served and will engage in conversation if asked. Each diner is given a handout that includes interviews with actual Cubans and American Cubans talking about the situation their country is in, as well as their thoughts on the United States. Lunch events include conversations with Cuban expatriates, experts or professors talking about current conditions in Cuba. They even set up Skype sessions with people living in Cuba.
“We offer layers of involvement in unexpected and unusual ways,” said Rubin.
One of those unusual events is “The Cuban Speech.” Cubans, American Cubans and diners alike are encouraged to write a letter to President Barack Obama on what they would like to hear the president say in a speech about Cuba. The best ones will be condensed and added to a speech that an Obama impersonator will read outside of the restaurant at an upcoming event. The speech will be videotaped and posted to the Conflict Kitchen website, and follows the popular “Iranian Speech” that was produced during the Iranian version of the restaurant.
“The Foreigner” is another unusual way to get diners involved in the conversation. Every Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m., Pittsburgh resident Elise Walton sits at a table outside of the restaurant wearing a microphone headset that is connected to a person in Cuba. Customers speak to Walton, who relays what is said to the person on the other end. That person responds to her, and Walton speaks the response word for word as if she is that person. Rubin says it’s a way to make the geopolitical distance between Pittsburgh and Cuba feel personal and local.
Conflict Kitchen associates like Inga Meier are drawn to work there because of the message the restaurant creates.
“We definitely spark conversation, and that can happen at the window where they ask questions, or happen when they take a flier home and something evolves out of that,” says Meier.
Like many of the workers there, Meier is a student at the University of Pittsburgh, and she is passionate about engaging customers to spark conversation and awareness.
“We’re not vested in portraying any particular political perspective; we’re trying to create a dialogue.”
Even the building is an educational tool. The restaurant is decorated in bright yellows and reds, and the sign says “Cocina del Conflicto.” Vibrant Cuban music blares from a tiny speaker at one of the windows, and the smells of marinating pork and beef linger with the scent of frying plantains. Even the menu and the hot sauce at the take-out window are written in Spanish. It’s just as easy to believe that you are in Havana as you are in eyesight of the Cathedral of Learning and its Nationality Rooms.
The food
This is the fourth version of Conflict Kitchen’s menu since opening in 2010, with prior themes inspired by Iran, Afghanistan and Venezuela. To create the current menu, the co-directors traveled to Cuba, where they sampled food, interviewed Cubans and embraced the culture. The food chosen is what an average street vendor would serve and is then tested in Pittsburgh with expatriates to make sure it is authentic.
Don’t look for a Cuban sandwich on the menu: That’s an American invention, says Meier.
“We don’t really have anything like a sandwich, since that’s not really typical of Cuban food. In our last menu, we had sandwiches, so we actually wrapped the food in wrappers with information on them.”
A popular dish on the menu is the Ropa vieja, a Cuban-style marinated shredded beef that is moist and not too spicy, served with congri, a rice and black bean side dish, and a cabbage salad soaked in a light vinaigrette. Other main dishes include the Lechon Asado, which is slow-roasted pork, or the picadillo, a ground beef dish mixed with olives, peppers and raisins.
Also on the menu is the platanas maduros, or fried plantains. These are plantains that are fried to a french fry-like consistency that is both sweet from the plantain and salty, thanks to coarse sea salt. For dessert, try the natilla, a homemade pudding with lots of cinnamon and a dash of lemon zest.
Chelsea Miller, a Philadelphia native studying history and Spanish at Pitt, enjoys the dialogue almost as much as the food at the Conflict Kitchen. She is hoping to enter the “Pitt in Cuba” program, a study abroad program that sends students to Havana to study the culture of Cuba.
“The plantains are delicious,” said Miller. “But I also appreciate talking about the issues of the Cuban people.”
Her mother, Candace Gesser, agrees.
“I actually heard of the Conflict Kitchen on NPR in Philadelphia. Personally, I think it’s ridiculous that we are not dealing with Cuba.”
“I just like Cuban music,” said husband Richard Gesser. “If you’re going to get the pork, try the hot sauce: Trust me, you’ll regret it if you don’t.”
Starting in mid-November, the Conflict Kitchen theme will switch over to North and South Korea. To create that menu, Rubin and his team went to South Korea, where they talked to South Korean citizens and North Korean defectors about the food and culture of the region. That menu, which is still in development, will feature more winter-themed food, and the restaurant will offer similar dialogue about the issues facing the United States and the Korean Peninsula.
“After that, we’d like to change the theme to Israel and Palestine,” says Rubin. “We’ve also planned a trip to Iran.”
At the end of the day, Rubin hopes that people walk away from the Conflict Kitchen with at least a bit more understanding of the countries that are in conflict with the United States, but he also knows that his customers are coming back for the food.
“We could be doing more with the message, but we certainly have people who think the food is delicious.”