Caribbean Beat — March/April 2019 (#156)

The library faces right onto Grand Army Plaza, the vast ovalshaped
entrance to Prospect Park that also serves as a memorial
to the Union Army in the US Civil War. It includes a triumphal
arch of stone with bronze sculptures. Ryce-Paul tells visitors to
look closely at the group of soldiers depicted on the arch’s righthand
side: in the foreground you can see an African-American
soldier, rarely depicted in Civil War memorials.
Work up an appetite
Grand Army Plaza is also a good place to start a foodie’s
exploration of Prospect Heights, thanks to the popular Saturday
Farmer’s Market. “Provisions are priced higher than neighbourhood
food and drink,” says Ryce-Paul, “but the produce are
just-picked fresh — eggs, bakery goods, meat, pickles all arrive
that morning from upstate New York and rural New Jersey.
GrowNYC’s Food Scrap Composting then collects your farmer’s
market food waste to replenish the earth and grow more food.
Closed loop!”
Ryce-Paul and Touron (who’s a former chef) enjoy cooking at
home, with organic produce from the farmer’s market and the
nearby Park Slope Food Co-op. But when they’re in the mood
to eat out, there’s no shortage of options within a few blocks of
their apartment.
“Cheryl’s Global Soul [on Underhill Avenue] is where you must
be first thing on Sunday morning — only to discover as you turn
the corner that all of Prospect Heights is there before you for
brunch, no joke.” When she’s in the mood for Caribbean food?
“When you can’t be in Trinidad, you eat at Sugarcane [on Flatbush
Avenue].” And Japanese is a longtime favourite. “Geido [Flatbush
Avenue] does much more than excellent sushi. There is Japanese
home-style donburi, ramen, soba, izakaya — and the pickled
vegetables and ginger are some of the best ever.” A few blocks
away, “Chuko [Vanderbilt Avenue] is radicalising
vintage Japanese. No sushi here, but you can do a
side-by-side tasting test of traditional versus avantgarde
Japanese culinary delights.”
When the weather is hot? Ryce-Paul strolls
over to nearby Crown Heights and Island Pops
[Nostrand Avenue], run by Trinis Khalid and Shelly
Hamid. “Boozy lollies, snowcone, Mackeson
chocolate or orange bitters ice-cream . . . The other
day, in a Guinness caramel ice-cream delirium, I
dreamed pennacool on the menu.”
Green days
Manhattan’s Central Park is world-famous, but
true Brooklynites will tell you that was merely
Olmsted’s warm-up for his true masterpiece,
Prospect Park, with its rolling Long Meadow, a
rugged forested section called The Ravine, and
lake and boathouse. That’s the place to “make
friends with the greedy swans and wild geese,”
says Ryce-Paul, while in the summertime Breezy
Hill is where you’ll find the collection of trendy
food trucks called Smorgasburg.
But her number-one spot for relaxing outdoors
is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, tucked between
Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum.
Founded in 1910, it boasts a celebrated Japanese
Felix Lipov/Shuterstock.com
Left The bronze sculptures
on the triumphal arch in Grand
Army Plaza include a depiction
of an African-American soldier
Opposite page Springtime in
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
cherry trees in bloom
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