Rock and Dominica Morris have been married for three years after first meeting in 2009 in Australia. The biggest change for Dominica after after moving to the United States was the food. “There was so much you didn’t get to try in Australia,” she said, referencing her now-expanded palate. “I loved all the food from these new cultures.”Hixson will be getting a taste of the Caribbean Islands on Aug. 23 when Dominica and Rock Morris formally open Dominica’s Caribbean Kitchen in a plaza off Highway 153, capitalizing on the success of their popular food truck at the Chattanooga Market.
Both are natives of Myanmar, formerly Burma. Dominica moved to Australia at a young age and lived there most of her life. She met Rock there seven years ago.
The two bonded over their love of food and cooking. In Burmese culture, both men and women are expected to share the job of cooking, the couple said.
“My husband and I love to eat,” Dominica laughed. “It’s a bit of a passion of ours.”
Neither had owned or operated any sort of restaurant before, but when Dominica said she was interested in running a food truck in 2015, Rock offered to help however possible.
The couple said they were initially attracted to Caribbean food by the similarities in spices and flavor profiles to cuisine they’d grown up eating. Spices such as cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and garlic were represented in much of the food they loved, such as Spanish and Indian cuisine, making the transition to creating Caribbean dishes an easy one.
After a few Sundays of serving up such flavors at the Chattanooga Market, the pair began to see some familiar faces each week.
“We were blown away by the popularity [of our food],” Dominica said, referencing the amount of regulars who kept coming back for more. “We weren’t sure what to expect going in, but the feedback was amazing.”
The limitations of their food truck meant that once they decided to expand, it meant a more permanent brick-and-mortar establishment.
Their restaurant’s menu will include authentic food from the entire region, including Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In addition, there will be some milder, more American offerings for diners who are a bit less daring, they said.
“I definitely think there’s a niche that we can fill,” said Rock.
Dominica’s Caribbean Kitchen will be located at 5450 Highway 153, Suite 164, in the plaza that houses Lowe’s, Hobby Lobby and more.
For more information, call 582-8554 or visit dominicaskitchen.com.
Contact Shane Foley at sfoley@timesfreepress.com or 757-6506.