The Bed-Stuy-born, Brownsville-raised singer/songwriter — and “huge foodie” — offers recs for fried ice cream, hibiscus margaritas and sorrel that’s (almost) as good as his mom’s
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The Food Sermon
I’m Seventh Day Adventist — that’s where I think I got almost all my musical backing from, as a start, is the church. We go to church on Saturdays, so we observe the Sabbath. It’s from Friday night, sundown, to Saturday night, sundown. You’re not supposed to work. That’s your resting period — your time with god.
My sister went to Oakwood University in Alabama, which is a Seventh-day Adventist university, [and] I believe the owner [of Food Sermon] also went to Oakwood University. So they close on Friday nights and Saturdays.
Another tie: this is a Caribbean restaurant. My parents are from Dominica, which is in the West Indies. The sorrel here is the best, after my mom’s. It’s so good — it’s so freaking good. And it’s super close [to home]. There’s been so many nights when I’m really craving some good food — food food, where I can sit down and feel good after. I usually call before, just come pick it up, and then — back on the train.
355 Rogers Ave, (718) 484-7555, thefoodsermon.com
Butter & Scotch
Butter & Scotch is sooo good, and it’s so cute inside. It’s a bar that has a bunch of crazy desserts.
I have a huge sweet tooth. When I went there, they had a pineapple pie. It was pineapple and… I want to say passion fruit — it was something amazing — and I was like, yo, this is so good. They also have a milkshake that has booze in it.
818 Franklin Ave, (347) 350-8899, butterandscotch.com
Cafe Rue Dix
They have an amazing happy hour. They have this burger, and I always put the goat cheese on there. They also have a hibiscus margarita that’s so good, and the other margarita on the menu — I can’t remember the flavor — is legit.
It’s also a really cute spot. Closer to 6:00/7:00, when people are out of work, it gets really packed.
1451 Bedford Ave, (929) 234-2543, caferuedix.com
Peaches HotHouse
I love Peaches. Peaches is like comfort food. It’s just down-home southern food, so you can get mac and cheese, collard greens…
I also feel like there’s a lot of culture there infused in. When you go in to get seated, you write your name on a chalkboard. It’s just little things like that that are really cool.
415 Tompkins Ave, (718) 483-9111, bcrestaurantgroup.com/peaches
Sea
If you can’t tell, I’m a huge foodie. I’m usually not a huge dive-bar [person]. I’d rather go to a restaurant and try new things.
Sea has been a go-to of mine, I wanna say since high school. It’s just one of those places where you go and there’s a ton of options. There’s a really cool vibe there. They have a little… river, if you will… and a Buddha right in the middle. It’s really, really nice.
They have this thing called The Mad Dragon. It’s a dessert — deep-fried ice cream — and when they bring it out to you, they set it on fire. And there’s a rum sauce on the bottom. That’s the best fried ice cream place ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. It’s so, so, so good.
They also have this thing called a curry puff. It’s a little… how do I explain? It’s like a dumpling almost, but breaded differently. It’s so good. If I had a choice I could just eat that, from there– and, of course, the fried ice cream.
114 N 6th St, (718) 384-8850, seathainyc.com
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Feature image: Sam Sumpter; Image editing: Ben Curry
[This interview has been edited and condensed.]