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Fairfield Woman Opens First Jamaican Restaurant In Town

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Fairfield foodies are rarely hard-pressed to find the cuisine to fit their cravings. From Irish pub grub, to Spanish tapas and a picking of fine Italian and Sushi restaurants, the town has as diverse a dining scene as any.

Restaurant owner Karen Gordon stands in outside of her storefront located at 16 Tunxis Hill Road in Fairfield.

Restaurant owner Karen Gordon stands in outside of her storefront located at 16 Tunxis Hill Road in Fairfield.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio
(From left) Employee Demetrius Hammond, Owner Karen Gordon and Jamaican Chef Howard Powell stand in front of the counter at Stan's Jamaican Kitchen - a small eat-in and takeout Caribbean restaurant.

(From left) Employee Demetrius Hammond, Owner Karen Gordon and Jamaican Chef Howard Powell stand in front of the counter at Stan's Jamaican Kitchen - a small eat-in and takeout Caribbean restaurant.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio
The everyday menu at Stan's Jamaican Restaurant.

The everyday menu at Stan's Jamaican Restaurant.

Photo Credit: Karen Gordon

But one option residents have been missing out on is authentic Caribbean food.

That is, until Jamaica native Karen Gordon opened Stan’s Jamaican Kitchen at 16 Tunxis Hill Road, on the border of Fairfield and Bridgeport.

“I named it after my father Stan, who passed away in December 2012,” Gordon said. “He was a great host, a true master of hospitality, and he always encouraged me to start a business of my own.”

A Fairfield resident since 2005, Gordon is by no means a restaurant tycoon. In fact, Stan’s, which opened last month, is her first restaurant as well as her first business.

For the last 20 years, Gordon worked on Wall Street as an investment banking researcher. But in 2008, the market changed and “finance was no longer fun,” Gordon said with a laugh.

With the industry landscape looking as it did, Gordon decided it was time to begin to look for a career change. Always cooking the food of her homeland for friends and family, Gordon soon moved to catering before her friends suggested she open her own place.

Last year, she noticed the space where Stan’s is now located was for rent. After looking at other possible sites for a few months, Gordon decided to sign a lease in February.

“When I found it, this place was empty,” she said. “I had looked at other places that were formally restaurants but decided on this location because I could build it from the ground up.”

And build it from the ground up she did.

“I was able to design it how I wanted. Cheerful, sunny, new, fresh and clean,” Gordon said.

Although it is her first attempt in the food industry, what Gordon lacks in experience she makes up for in authenticity.

At age 5, Gordon and her family moved to Queens, N.Y., but traveled back to Jamaica two or three times a year, she said. The youngest of three, she and her siblings grew up in the kitchen, coming home after school and cooking dinner while her parents worked.

Growing up in a close family, her mother even flew to Fairfield in August to help with the soft opening of the restaurant.

“It was fitting,” she said.

Now, Gordon has turned her passion for cooking for friends and family to cooking for the community.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” she said, “having people who walk by and tried your food the night before and stop by to tell you how much they enjoyed it.”

Stan’s Jamaican Kitchen is open Mondays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Patrons can find more information by visiting the restaurant's Facebook.

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