Maloya in Bushwick serves the “French-Créole” cuisine of Réunion Island. Established by the French as a plantation economy in the 17th century, Réunion Island (east of Madagascar) incorporates influences from enslaved laborers from East Africa and indentured laborers from India, China, and other parts of Asia. Today the language (Réunion Creole) and the food mix those influences.

From Maloya I enjoyed the camarons coco-vanille, the coconut milk-poached shrimp drawing from South and Southeast Asia, and the vanilla drawing from the heavy production of vanilla in that region of Africa along the Indian Ocean. In fact, we call it “Bourbon vanilla” because we originally called Réunion Island “Île Bourbon” around when it became the world's leading vanilla producer. I enjoyed the camarons coco-vanille on the level of flavor, and on the level of philosophy, challenging the notion of “authentic”.