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"Top Chef" winner Hung might wanna take a few notes from Josie Smith-Malave: The erstwhile "Top Chef" castoff went on to successfully open The Island, in Long Island City, and is now the consulting chef at this old-world "global comfort food" haven in Fort Greene, a melting pot for home-cooked fare from kitchens around the world. "It’s called ‘global comfort food’ because every single diverse ethnic group, we ate at home no matter what your background is," says Smith-Malave, who is of Filipino–Puerto Rican–Italian heritage. "There was something that you ate as a child that brings you home, that was a comfort to you," she adds. Here, "comfort" translates to a truly global menu of crab-corn-chowder cakes, ratatouille, babyback ribs, mussels in miso broth, and poached curried salmon with coconut lentils. It’s a tip off to the chef’s food-centric multiculti childhood in Florida, as well as to Fort Greene’s own diverse ethnic character. "This place is a throwback to a time in African-American history where you had your affluent black Americans—there is still this glamour," she says of the restaurant, with its dramatic gold drapes, burgundy accents and swirling ceiling patterns. "We’re trying to bring a spot [that’s] comfortable, approachable and without pretentiousness."

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