The Stranger: People love the food at Fremont’s RockCreek. Former Stranger food critic Bethany Jean Clement wrote that Chef Eric Donnelly’s food “makes you happy to be alive, right here, right now.” I have friends who rave about their brunch service as well.
Earlier this week, I got a press release announcing RockCreek’s new “Hip-Hop Brunch” series, which will be held the last Sunday of every month “and include a live local DJ and awesome MC-inspired dishes.” But I had trouble getting past the first menu item, which made me cringe:
NWA—pancakes with Nutella, walnuts, and crème anglaise
This one got me too:
Public Enemy #1—ham, turkey, Swiss, raspberry jam, and pancakes
There are other more innocuous-sounding dishes like the “Biggie Smalls” (a short stack of pancakes with braised bacon), but I had to look at the press release three times before I could read beyond NWA.
At a time when many black businesses are struggling to hang on (see the recent closures of the Central District’s Philadelphia Fevre and Catfish Corner) and black youth are being killed for being black, it’s painful to see white-owned businesses try and make money off of black culture. It might be fun (and even funny to some) to turn an abbreviation that stands for “Niggaz Wit Attitudes” into “nutella, walnuts, and crème anglaise” or call ham and pancakes “Public Enemy,” but these hiphop names were born out of real political frustration in the black community in the 1980s over things like racial profiling and police brutality—problems that continue today. It’s a privilege to be detached enough from these meanings to repurpose them for a brunch menu.
I doubt that Donnelly and his staff at RockCreek had any intentions with this menu beside a joke, or maybe a tribute to the music they like. But it reads as ignorance more than a tribute. I reached out to Donnelly through his PR company to get his side, but didn’t get a response.*
Here’s the full menu:
NWA—pancakes with Nutella, walnuts, and crème anglaise
Southern Playalistic—fried chicken with jalapeno corn cakes
Biggie Smalls—short stack with braised bacon and sunny side up eggs
Funky Homosapien—pancakes with Bananas Foster and candied walnuts
MC Solaar (reppin’ France!)—Mornay sauce, ham, onions, and poached eggs
Public Enemy #1—ham, turkey, Swiss, raspberry jam, and pancakes
Plus, drink specials:
Brass Monkey—crushed orange, ice, lime, and lager
Gin & Juice—gin…and juice, orange and grapefruit Ricky
Purple Drank—vodka and ‘purple’ bubbles
Beer & A Shot—Montucky Cold Snacks beer & O.G.D. shot
*MyNorthwest.com’ Jason Rantz did speak with Chef Donnelly from RockCreek who said the vast majority of customers “have been so excited about it.” He criticized The Stranger claiming “they’re really trying to pin me as some kind of racist or somebody trying to profiteer from the black community in some kind of way, which is so backwards because I feel like hip hop is not only stemmed from the black community, but represented by every community and is all over the globe.”
But Chef Donnelly says the hip hop brunch is a positive thing. “This is actually a celebration of struggle,” he told the show. “[It’s]a celebration of rap and hip hop music and hip hop culture in a different way.”
As Mr. Rantz noted, “The Stranger is published by Tim Keck, who isn’t black. I guess Garbes is helping this non-black owned business make money off of black issues.”
Hey Ms. Garbes (the offended Stranger author): Don’t like their menu? Don’t eat there!
DCG
