9. Mr. P’s Ice Cream Shop
Starting out as an ice cream cart, Mr. P’s Ice Cream Shop offers a selection of homemade tropical ice cream flavors. The shop had its soft opening 11 weeks ago, though Mr. P has been selling for years. The ice cream shop incorporates elements of the owner’s Trinidadian heritage, leading to flavors including coconut, soursop, and sorrel.
Some alcohol-inspired flavors include Guinness, pina colada, and rum and raisin, while other popular flavors include Mauby (a tree bark-based beverage), beet ginger, and grape nut. The ice cream spot has also begun selling vegan ice cream flavors, as well as a selection of baked goods like lemon cake with ginger cookie crumble.
10. Ariapita
Ariapita is a Tribagonian restaurant along Flatbush Avenue near Little Haiti to the south of Little Caribbean’s center. Ariapita is the creation of Trinidadian chef Osei Blackett, better known as “Chef Picky,” who moved to the U.S. at 20 to pursue his passion for cooking. Chef Picky owns Picky Eaters, a quick-serve Trinidadian restaurant further south on Flatbush Avenue, and he runs pop-ups and food experience events he calls “The Picky Experience.” He has planned menus for The James Beard House, Gracie Mansion, and the United Nations Offices.
The menu at Ariapita is small but diverse, with a selection of entrees ranging from curry-dusted shrimp to curried crab dumplings to stewed fish. These entrees can be accompanied by sides including bhagi (a spinach rice dish sometimes using other leafy vegetables), buss up shut (paratha bread), and cassava oil down (using coconut milk and hot pepper). Other sides include oxtail pelau, Ital curry, and potato pie. The restaurant also offers six cocktails, such as their Mauby Sour with dark rum or Forres Park with white rum, sorrel syrup, and grapefruit soda.