Beefed Up!

Christie's Jamaican Patties
334 Flatbush Ave (at Sterling Pl) [map]
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718.636.9746

For forty years, Christie's has been selling the greatest beef patties imaginable, flakey yellow pockets stuffed fat with meat and wrapped in butter-drenched coco bread, out of a little triangular storefront on Flatbush Avenue. They have jerk chicken, meat loaf, and vegetable patties too, and they all cost less than $2. It's $2.50 if you want the coco bread. Then a few weeks ago, I heard Christie's was closing. My instinct was to panic, but when I investigated it turned out that Christie's was just moving across the street, a whole half-block closer to my apartment. I breathed a sigh of relief and ate six beef patties.
As the celebratory patties digested, however, I was left with an unpleasant feeling that had nothing to do with eating too much. Christie's has to move because the new Crunch gym next door is forcing them out. If Christie's hadn't gotten lucky and found a new location on the same street, those amazing patties would have disappeared forever. This near-disaster didn't just remind me to eat more Jamaican food; it reminded me that no matter how much you might enjoy keeping your favorite hidden place a secret, don't. Tell everyone you know. Paul Haye agrees. He's a big Jamaican guy with a sweet salt and pepper mustache, and his family has owned Christie's since 1965. I sat down to talk with him about Brooklyn, the new store, and secret recipes.

How are your beef patties so good?

PH: We've been making beef patties for forty years. When we first opened the store, we were literally the only business on the block. A gentleman by the name of Mr. Brown made the recipe for us. We wanted a variation of the traditional patties, and through experimentation we came up with this one.
Patties keep warm in the current Christie's window.
Is it a secret recipe?

PH: It's a zealously guarded trade secret. But the main reason for the patties' success is that we've restrained from mass production. You know, in forty years we had a number of opportunities to take it really big, but we decided not to. Because once you go beyond a certain volume, you have to get into preservatives. We make everything fresh here every morning. Nothing is ever frozen. Every day we get sixty-five pounds of beef and sixty-five pounds of chicken. That's all we make, and we go through all of it every day.

How do you feel about the move to the new store?

PH: It's not by choice, but we plan to make the best of a bad situation. We plan on experimenting with some new patties. We're going to make a callaloo patty, which is type of Jamaican spinach. We're thinking about soy patties.

Soy patties?

PH: Soy patties and steamed vegetables. People are trying to eat healthy, and we're going to give it to them with a Jamaican flair. We're experimenting with a lot of exciting stuff. We're going to have Jamaican style fried chicken, wings, and a whole line of fresh homemade juices.

Besides having to move, what do you think about the way the neighborhood is changing?

PH: Greater economic activity is good, but what has always made Brooklyn unique is this rich flavor. There's all kind of people in this neighborhood, and it's an open-minded group of people. If there's something new, people will try it, and if they like it, they will support it fiercely. I love this neighborhood and this community, but it's already begun that the big bland corporations are coming in, displacing the mom and pop stores, and replacing them with the same kind of stores New Yorkers are accustomed to. I don't think it's a plus if Brooklyn becomes another Manhattan.

Have you ever thought about raising prices on the patties?

PH: We had to raise it by fifty cents a few months ago, but it was very reluctantly. We don't want this to be a gourmet kind of a place. We want it to be an informal place where people can come and talk and have a good time.

What's your favorite patty?

PH: My favorite has always been the jerk chicken, to be honest with you.

Yeah.