MAY 2020 41
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
F LY
JetBlue, Caribbean Airlines, and American
Airlines fly direct to Trinidad from New York
City and other U.S. hubs; from Trinidad, you
can book a 25-minute local flight to Tobago.STAY
The sleek Hyatt Regency Trinidad, on the
waterfront in Port of Spain, is an ideal base
from which to explore (rooms from $161,
trinidad.regency.hyatt.com). O n To b a g o ,
check into the Coco Reef Resort for beach-
side R & R. (Rooms from $301, coco-reef-
resort-spa.hoteltrinidadandtobago.com)E AT
At Sauce on D’Ave, the Hosein family has
been serving doubles, spiced chickpeas and
pepper sauce between two rounds of fried
dough, for 40 years. (Corner of Ana Street and
Ariapita Avenue, Port of Spain)Bake and shark, fried shark in a fried bun
with toppings like tamarind, hot sauce, slaw,
and cucumber, is best eaten at Maracas
Beach, specifically at Richard’s Bake &
Shark.Fresh, flaky roti are a mainstay at The Roti
Cafe in Santa Cruz, where the flatbreads
are wrapped around spiced meats or served
alongside, for dipping. (theroticafe.com)Rosie’s Homestyle Bakery in Tobago is your
stop for a little bit of everything—beef hand
pies, jerk chicken, bakes, and more. (fa c e
book.com/rosieshomestylebakery)north of the city where my grandfather (and years later, Nicki
Minaj) grew up. Through the narrow streets we drove, past halal
butcher shops and grocers selling fruit from the backs of their
trucks. Papa led me to where his house was. Wa s. The corrugated
tin walls had been replaced by something slightly more per-
manent, but the stream behind the house that cut through Saint
James and had served as a shortcut from one friend’s house to
another still flowed there. He walked me by the church where
he’d roll into 6 a.m. mass after staying out all night long and to
the Catholic school where he won the scholarship that eventu-
ally got him to America.
Then back into the car we went to head north toward Maracas
Bay along a winding road, the green cliffs on one side and the
ocean stretching blue on the other. We stopped for lunch at
Richard’s Bake & Shark, a Trinidadian institution. Back home,
Papa often makes me fried shark—and I make it myself, too—but
here, the bake, a puff of fried bread, was so fresh it felt completely
new. Sitting with my grandfather by the side of the road, eating
our lunch quietly, I remembered some lines from a poem by
Derek Walcott, one of the West Indies’ best-known writers:
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.WATCH IT!
For a video of Kwame Onwuachi and
his grandfather Winston exploring
Trinidad and Tobago, visit
foodandwine.com/kwame-trinidad.FW_0520_Kwame.indd 41 FINAL 3/18/20 4:15 PM