Chef Robson Lemos and Somerville Arts Council cultural director Rachel Strutt greeted guests at the Nibble Kitchen fundraiser on June 2. — Photos by Shira Laucharoen

By Shira Laucharoen

Blending together a medley of flavors, the upcoming Nibble Kitchen served up a delectable variety of Brazilian street food for brunch at its fundraiser on June 2, held at Foundation Kitchen. With a distinctive meal designed by chef Robson Lemos, the event will help finance the opening of Nibble Kitchen in Union Square’s Bow Market by the end of summer.

Lemos, a member of the Nibble Entrepreneurship Program (NEP), said that his passion for cooking originated in his awareness of the kitchen as a communal space that brings people together. He was drawn to the culinary arts as an expression of history and culture, inspired by all aspects of the creative experience.

“Every kind of food has its own identity, and I love that, that it connects with music, color, and flavor,” said Lemos. “I love the food presentation; we drink pink lemonade because it is pink! Of course, we need to have good, flavorful food, but we also need a beautiful tablecloth, special dishes. How we serve the food means a lot.”

The fundraiser specialized in Brazilian street food, serving visitors empadas and croquettes.

Guests were offered a selection of three dishes from a buffet of traditional Brazilian cuisine, while festive music played in the background. Bowls arrived with a bed of lettuce and a salad of black-eyed peas, accented with notes of vinegar and onion. Diners also enjoyed flaky empadas, or chicken pies, as well as crusty pao de queijo, or rolls of cheese bread. The kitchen doled out beef croquettes, codfish croquettes mixed with potato, and succulent chicken croquettes, inflected with herbs. A mélange of vegetables, including green beans, carrots, broccoli, and zucchini perfectly complemented the meat options, while a choice of passion fruit, guava, or cashew juice provided a refreshing finish.

Nibble Kitchen will be the operating restaurant of the Nibble program, which grew out of the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtsUnion initiative, founded in 2005. The project promotes cultural exchange and supports immigrant communities through its cooking classes, pop up restaurants, market tours, and food festivals. In 2015, Nibble launched NEP, encouraging economic development while assisting immigrants in their pursuit of their business ventures and culinary dreams. The program currently works with 12 entrepreneurs hailing from countries such as Venezuela, India, Mexico, and Panama.

Guests had an option of choosing from various meat and vegetable dishes, while receiving a complementary juice drink.

The new kitchen, which will rotate gastronomy from different cultures, will contribute to Union Square’s rich and ethnically encompassing restaurant scene, said Somerville Arts Council’s cultural director Rachel Strutt.

“Union Square has always had a tremendously diverse food landscape, and I think that’s worth preserving,” said Strutt. “It’s exciting that people can go there and get authentic international food that they wouldn’t find anywhere else, Ethiopian wats one day, Mexican mole another day, then one day Brazilian street food. …Food is a portal to cultural expression; it allows people to share stories about where they’re from and promotes cultural interchange.”

A mixture of carrots, green beans, broccoli, and other vegetables was served as part of the buffet.