'I Love it Here' 1.05 - Main South
In recent years, Worcester has grown exponentially with a diverse population of people finding the city a good place to start a business, raise a family, etc. One place this is most evident is the Main South neighborhood. I usually hear students disparage it as dangerous, sketchy, or some combination of the two. Especially those students that have only seen the areas they speak of from their dorm windows and immediately concluded that Worcester is not a cool city. What you don’t see unless you actually look are the people and places that are thriving in those areas. There are too many places to experience to not even attempt to find them or give them a chance.
If you’ve read my column before, you know that the message is always this: experience what the community has to offer! And so I give you 800 Main Street’s One Love Café, the best Jamaican food I’ve encountered in Worcester. The One Love is run by Michella Fouchard, an extremely pleasant woman who knows her way around the kitchen. I only know about the kitchen part because the kitchen itself is open, and is right by the dining area. You can watch her make your food, although you may be distracted by the excellent displays of local artistry on the walls. For such a tiny place, the décor is superb, and of course the service can’t be beat when the chef serves your food literally fresh off the stove. The menu is varied, and in the past I’ve enjoyed the curried goat, the jerk chicken, the soups, the fish cakes—all of it is good. They even feature the Buffalo Balm from local condiment gurus Dr. Gonzo’s Uncommon Condiments.
Down by Clark University, at 934 Main St., you can find Annie’s Clark Brunch, which serves up a good omelet and a great corned beef hash. This is a sure-fire place to meet Clark students, especially on a Saturday morning when the place is packed.
Don’t forget about Maria’s Kitchen while you are down in that area either. Maria’s has great Creole food, but you might need a refresher from your intro Spanish class to order.
And for a real Worcester institution, check out Santiago’s Supermercado at 1000 Main St. If you want food from anywhere in the Hispanic world, including Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, this is the place to go. It’s as big as Price Chopper, but everything’s cheaper and nothing’s in English. It’s actually a really good place for Spanish-language students to bone up on their language skills. I’d been on a search for a good Peruvian restaurant in the area (let me know if you find one), mostly so I could get yucca fries. Lo and behold, Santiago’s carries frozen, pre-cut yucca fries, and now I can easily indulge my taste for this South American tuber.
But hear me, Crusaders: while there’s plenty of good reasons to visit Main South, perhaps the best reason is the most abstract. Perhaps it will benefit you in your lives as moral, socially responsible human beings, and as products of a Jesuit education, to visit the neighborhood and not just ignore the depressing parts. Don’t just eat great Jamaican food and drive straight back to campus. Take five minutes to look at the situation around you, to see what poverty can do to people. One of your primary duties as an HC student and eventually a graduate is to increase the quality of life for all humans, everywhere. Keep that in mind when you’re applying what you’ve learned here at Holy Cross.
