Big Jay’s Place: Where Caribbean Soul Food Meets Cincinnati Heart
“I don’t know what’s bigger—your heart or your menu,” Guy Fieri told chef Jason Howard at Big Jay’s Place, a Caribbean soul food spot about 20 minutes north of Cincinnati in an area known as Finneytown. And after watching this segment, it’s clear both are substantial.
The story behind Big Jay’s is one of those full-circle journeys that makes Triple D special. Jason Howard grew up in the area, went to Texas for college where he met his wife from the Virgin Islands, and has a mother from Antigua. Halfway through his marketing degree, he realized his heart wasn’t in business—it was in food. He got his culinary degree and came back home to cook the cuisine he loves. “It’s a Caribbean soul food type place mixed with Cincinnati flair,” Howard explained.
When COVID hit and they had a freezer full of food with no way to sell it, Howard didn’t hesitate. He started cooking for kids and shelters who needed meals. That’s the kind of chef we’re talking about here.
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The Oxtail Dinner: Five Hours of Flavor
Guy dove into the oxtail dinner—oxtails with macaroni and cheese and collard greens—and the cooking process showed exactly why this dish takes time to do right. Howard starts with a dry rub of salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, basil, allspice, Sazon seasoning, Goya, and brown sugar. Then comes the wet seasoning: fresh garlic, Worcestershire sauce, browning seasoning (not Kitchen Bouquet, Howard noted), soy sauce, and cilantro with bell peppers, onions, and carrots for sweetness.
The oxtails get seared, finished with Scotch bonnet pepper sauce and beef stock, then simmer for about five hours. Similar to how other Triple D chefs approach braised meats like G. Garvin’s Short Rib Ragu, the low and slow method produces meat that falls off the bone.
Guy’s verdict? “Oxtails are awesome. They’re very tender, well flavored.” He called the mac and cheese “off the chain” and said the collard greens “wrecked southern greens” for him. He also warned he’d “be asleep in the car” after that plate.
Jerk Shrimp Caribbean Plate
The second dish was a Caribbean plate featuring jerk shrimp over ginger cabbage and rice. The pineapple jerk glaze alone is worth noting: pineapple juice, pineapples, molasses, their house dry jerk seasoning, Scotch bonnet pepper sauce, soy sauce, granulated garlic, basil, allspice, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and brown sugar.
The ginger cabbage gets sautéed with onions, bell peppers, cilantro, Sazon, basil, Scotch bonnet sauce, fresh ginger, and powdered garlic before sweating in chicken stock. The shrimp themselves get coated in olive oil, garlic, jerk seasoning, basil, salt, and pepper—simple but effective. For fans of well-executed shrimp dishes, this rivals a Cheesy Shrimp Hot Plate in terms of flavor payoff.
“Shrimp are cooked perfectly. This cabbage is spot on. You’re crushing that,” Guy told Howard.
Tips from Big Jay’s Kitchen
Massage your seasonings: Howard physically works the wet and dry seasonings into the oxtails, ensuring every surface is coated before searing.
Build layers with fresh and dry: Both dishes use a combination of dry spice blends and fresh aromatics like ginger, cilantro, and garlic to create depth.
Let cabbage sweat: Adding chicken stock and covering the ginger cabbage allows it to steam and soften while absorbing all those seasonings.
One customer summed it up perfectly: “It’s like nothing else in the city. That’s why you have to come here.” Or as another put it about the Caribbean plate, “The shrimp just lays so heavenly on top of the rice.”
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