One of the lovely things about Ministry of Brewing, the Upper Fells brewpub in a former church, is that they’ve set up their back lot for food trucks. On a recent sunny afternoon, I found Rae’s Kitchen, a mobile eatery devoted to Haitian-Trinidadian food, parked out back.
Owned and operated by Regine Lafontant, a Long Island native who moved to Maryland during the pandemic and graduated from the culinary training program at the Maryland Food Bank, Rae’s began in a shared kitchen. Then two years ago, Lafontant bought her food truck and has since been roaming around to pop-ups, festivals, farmers markets, and events throughout Maryland and Virginia—plus the occasional former church.
Her menu reflects her background. “My mom is Trinidadian, and my dad is Haitian,” Lafontant says. “I’ve always wanted to combine both cultures and represent [them through] food.”
This translates into a vibrant selection of regionally specific dishes such as griot with pikliz, the marinated, slow-cooked, and fried pork shoulder paired with pickled slaw that is the national dish of Haiti. She also serves Trinidadian barbecued chicken, Creole shrimp, chicken roti, curry goat roti, and more rotating offerings.
Many of the recipes come from her grandmother. “She would cook in the kitchen, and I would just be right up under her,” says Lafontant, who learned traditional Haitian recipes from her grandmother and Trinidadian recipes from her mother.
As for her frequent stops at the brewpub, she says that she was looking for breweries and discovered that the place hosted a lot of food trucks, so she approached them. It’s a lovely, low-key environment, as the trucks are parked in a little ad hoc courtyard up the steps from the former altar that now houses massive brewing tanks.
Folks can eat at tables near the truck or bring food back into the high-ceilinged space and sit at its long wooden tables. Of course, there’s also the bar, where you can order from the large, curated beer menu, which also lists non-alcoholic options including an NA beer.
Lafontant’s food is remarkable, with deeply flavorful, resonant dishes that showcase both technical skill and regional specificity. If you have to order one thing, get the griot and pikliz, a fantastic dish that’s not easy to find. Served with rice and beans and plantains—and with a cup of addictive fiery sauce which you should not skimp on—it matches particularly well with all those available suds.
Check the Ministry’s Instagram for upcoming trucks, including Rae’s.