There’s a moment at a New York City street fair when the air shifts– smoke curls upward, music cuts through the crowd, and suddenly, everyone is looking for the same thing. Not just food, but a feeling. For TNT Pineapple, that feeling comes served in a hollowed-out pineapple, overflowing with jerk-spiced flavor, color, and a kind of energy that feels unmistakably New York.
“I do pineapple jerk-inspired dishes at street fairs and festivals,” said founder Chef Tonay. “And I just opened up a grand location at 100 Pearl Street.”
What started as a pivot – born out of necessity, experimentation, and a surplus of fruit – has become one of the city’s most visually striking and culturally resonant street food concepts. But TNT Pineapple isn’t just about presentation. It’s about solving a problem.
“I love jerk chicken so much,” Chef Tonay said. “And lately, it’s been dry. They know everybody’s coming to get it, so they’re just cooking and leaving it on the smoke until it’s bone dry.”
Instead of accepting that standard, he reimagined it. The result– juicy, flavorful jerk meats paired with rice, grilled pineapple, and bold Caribbean seasoning, served inside the fruit itself. A dish that doesn’t just taste good, but feels intentional.
“I wanted to create something different that still has that jerk chicken taste, but a new, inspired way to eat it,” he said.
Chef Tonay.
The concept wasn’t originally the plan. Chef Tonay’s first venture, TNT Waffle Shacks, focused on chicken and waffles. But when a liquor sponsor pushed for a separation between food and drinks, and a series of events left him with “like 70 cases of pineapples”, everything changed.
“It’s kind of like the pineapples chose me,” he said.
That accidental abundance turned into a signature. Today, the pineapple bowl is more than a dish, it’s a statement. Bright, overflowing, and unmistakable in a crowd, it pulls people in before they even know what they’re ordering.
“It’s everything,” Chef Tonay said of the presentation. “With the sauce, the drizzle, people in line watching, and someone next to you eating out of a pineapple, it makes you think, ‘I want that.’”
And once they get it, they stay.
Some come for the jerk chicken, others for the steak, Chef Tonay’s personal favorite, but many end up surprised by what they didn’t expect. “People sleep on the stuffed salmon,” he said. “It’s unlike any other salmon. It’s plump, juicy, and flavorful.”
Still, at its core, TNT Pineapple is about more than individual menu items. It’s about recreating a full sensory experience, something rooted in Caribbean culture but shaped by New York’s pace and personality.
“I would say it’s Jamaican-style cuisine with an island twist,” Chef Tonay said. “The pineapple helps to take you to a place where you want to be. Everybody wants to do something with a pineapple and be on the beach. That’s living life.”
That vision is deeply tied to the environments that inspired him growing up, especially the kind of large-scale, high-energy gatherings that define summer in the city.
Chef Tonay cooking on the grill.Photo courtesy of Chef Tonay
“If I had to say, it would be the Labor Day Parade,” he said. “You could see, I believe, 70 to 80 vendors are selling jerk chicken. Everyone just loves jerk chicken.”
But where others replicate, Chef Tonay innovates. He sees food not just as tradition, but as an opportunity.
“I saw it more as a problem that I was solving rather than something I wanted to do,” he said.
That mindset, equal parts creative and entrepreneurial, has shaped every part of the brand, from the menu to the business model. Building in New York hasn’t been easy. Between permits, staffing challenges, and the sheer speed of the city, the stakes are high.
“I think New York City may be the hardest place to build a brand,” Chef Tonay said. “Tomorrow you could be up, the next day you could be down.”
But it’s also what makes success here meaningful.
“A real New Yorker doesn’t try to fit in,” he added. “We do what we do, and we stand out.”
That philosophy is embedded in TNT Pineapple’s DNA. Whether it’s a weekday setup downtown, a late-night food truck in Harlem, or a packed festival crowd, the goal remains the same– consistency, quality, and connection.
“I want their hunger to be satisfied,” Chef Tonay said. “And I want their pockets still to be fat.”
A dish from TNT Pineapple.Photo courtesy of Chef Tonay
Affordability, for him, isn’t an afterthought, it’s part of the mission. It’s why he dreams of scaling production, owning ingredients, and eventually bringing prices down even further.
“My goal is to have happy hour every day,” he said. “Like $5 pineapple bowls.”
It’s an ambitious vision, but one grounded in lived experience. From waking up before sunrise to source ingredients, to running multiple locations, to closing out late-night shifts, Chef Tonay’s days are relentless.
“I’ve been doing this for too long to give up,” he said.
That persistence is already pushing TNT Pineapple into its next phase. Plans are in motion for expansion beyond New York, including a Texas-based smokehouse concept and a Caribbean-inspired burger spot.
“TNT is just the most explosive thing known to man,” Chef Tonay said. “Anything you come to me for is gonna be the bomb.”
But even as the brand grows, the core remains the same– a one-of-a-kind experience rooted in flavor, culture, and the unmistakable rhythm of the city, where it’s never just about what’s in the bowl, but what it represents.