Vignettes of Poughkeepsie: Nelly’s, Sunday, September 3, 2:00 p.m.
Dodging rain drops as I walk down Main Street on a Sunday afternoon, I enter a small store front to escape the gloomy weather and take sanction in a Dominican oasis. As soon as I walk through the doors of Nelly’s, the aromas of Spanish cuisine hit my nostrils. Latin music filled with congas and guitars rings in my ears. “Next” is being yelled by the petite lady behind the counter scooping heaps of rice and beans into a Styrofoam container.
As I wait my turn in line, I peer into the display cases staring down into trays of pulled pork, seasoned fish, roasted chicken, ox tail, goat meat, rice and beans. Hanging above my head are simplistic removable plastic letter menus and a printed variation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”. A younger woman taps away on a calculator and collects payments in exchange for black plastic bags filled with take away meals. A tip jar sits atop the counter and clinks as customers leave behind their spare change.
As I contemplate which combination of rice, beans and meat I will order, a patron ahead of me is listing off an order meant for a family of five. She spews out words such as “moro,” a Cuban version of rice and beans, “mondongo,” a slow-cooked tripe dish, and “tostones,” twice fried plantain slices. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought I was in a village in the Caribbean getting my lunch fresh from a family kitchen rather than off the streets of Poughkeepsie.
My daydream is interrupted and reality sets back in when a second patron breaks the Latino façade and asks the petite lady what she recommends. Without any response, the lady begins to scoop bright orange rice scattered with black beans into a small container. “Beans?” The lady proceeds to pour a ladle full of baked beans over the rice as the patron nods her head yes. “Meat?” As the first-time customer points towards the shredded pork in the back of the case, the petite woman adds a pile of meat to the already overflowing dish. Barely able to close the container, the lady yells the total and hands the five-pound order to the customer.
Following the first timer’s lead, I play it safe and order the rice and beans with chicken. Unlike the regular customers, I am not yet daring enough to try the popular dishes of ox tail and goat meat. I take a seat at a quaint wooden table near the back of the restaurant and begin to dig into the mound of food placed before me. As I enjoy my meal, I watch as customer after customer comes into the front door, saunters up to the counter, places their order and waits patiently at one of the two tables up front before leaving, grinning from ear to ear with their food in tote.
