The Food Sermon

Before he went to culinary school, chef Rawlston Williams studied theology, which might explain his restaurant’s name and its motto, inscribed on both the counter and the takeout menu: “We believe in you!” With only nine counter stools facing the street, the space is mostly open kitchen — gleaming tile, electric induction burners, the wall hung with a sizable spice rack and knives for every purpose. The dishes that issue forth are Williams’s idea of Caribbean cuisine, which is to say a hybridized, fusion, nigh healthful version, where one night’s whole-branzino special can co-exist with curry chicken with red beans and rice. If the place has a signature dish, it’s the Island Bowl: a mix-and-match assortment of protein, starch, and sauce. The lamb-shank option protrudes almost comically from its deep white vessel. Pair it with chickpeas and rice and a creamy coconut-ginger sauce tinged with lemongrass. To wash it down, there’s good sorrel and better mauby. These drinks aren’t exactly novel for the neighborhood, but serving them in Mason-jar mugs might be.