Kaz An Nou, New French-Caribbean in Prospect Heights
"Kaz An Nou" means "our house" in the Creole language spoken in Guadeloupe, and the name is apt. A group of us trooped over to this new French-Caribbean restaurant in Prospect Heights on Friday night, and the small spot felt homey and warm, staffed by one waiter and a husband-and-wife team in the tiny open kitchen behind a counter. 
Spicy lamb lasagne with homemade pasta
The couple is Michelle and Sabastian, she from Vermont, he from Guadeloupe and France. The food is their own brand of French-Caribbean fusion, including inventions like escargot in curry-garlic butter and plaintains au gratin, in a creamy, emmenthal cheese sauce. It's BYOB for now.
Kaz An Nou's menu is short--about five starters and five mains--a smart move given their small space and staff. On Friday night, a special of Guadeloupe-style salt cod fritters were just perfect--resolutely crisp on the outside, light, fluffy, and briny inside. We scrabbled over a tasty pheasant pate swaddled in puff pastry ($7), and slurped down the tender snails ($7) swimming in butter. That dish of plantain au gratin ($5) was not as easy to love, a weirdly soupy, cheesy mass studded with slices of the fruit.
Mains were uniformly good: A dish of lasagna ($13) with tender homemade pasta was brightened by nubs of spiced lamb that tasted like merguez; a confit duck leg ($15) benefited from an orange pool of mango jerk sauce.
Although the agoulou ($11, a Guadeloupe-style burger) was, by default, cooked more well-done than is ideal, it was the sort of thing you think about for days afterward--the spiced beef patty crunchy on the edges, slathered with a mushroom-scallion compote and goat cheese, sitting on a sesame seed roll. The agoulou can also be had with avocado salsa and a fried egg.
We left satisfied and not broke. Kaz An Nou is shaping up to be an excellent neighborhood restaurant.
53 6th Avenue, Brooklyn
718-938-3235
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