Sybil’s Bakery and Restaurant resides on  triangular corner separating Liberty and 103rd Avenues at 133rd Street in Richmond Hill, which is the center spot of New York’s Indo-Caribbean community. The restaurant is very flashy with its bright red, yellow, green and turquoise colors. The front at the top of the triangle makes it resemble the bow of a ship. It echoes the immigrant ships of Indo-Caribbean ancestors.

Family:

Sybil’s is a very famous place for having authentic Caribbean cuisine. Also, it originally was considered a place of great respect due to the fact that the founder was a female by the name of Mrs. Sybil Bernard. Now, this business I being run by her son Mr. Viburt Bernard. This gives us a sense of how family plays a vital role in my Caribbean activities, including making food, allowing Mr. Viburt Bernard to obtain the skill to take over the family business.

A tour of Sybil’s:

Photo of the Crowd at Sybil’s:

On May 8th, I had the opportunity to go to Sybil’s Restaurants and Bakery in Liberty Ave. When I first glanced at Sybil’s, I noticed that the lines that it was heavily populated. I There were packs of Caribbean people waiting on a line, lasting towards the parking lot. As I entered inside the restaurant, I noticed that all the workers are Guyanese. Some of the cashiers would take down orders in Guyanese too. What strikes me the most were watching the families sitting down and eating the food together and having conversations. Thus, it seems that this restaurant acts as a cultural hot-spot for Guyanese people and allows them to connect with their cultural roots.

Coming Back to Home:

Menu at Sybil’s:

Sybil’s Restaurant also contains a wide variety of Indo-Caribbean food ranging from curry to saltfish. Also, many customers ordered dishes involving saltfish because saltfish is a popular dish in the Caribbeans. When looking at the menu, I realized that these dishes contain ingredients such, as shrimp and chicken. What makes these dishes special are the Indo-Caribbean spices that they use to cultivate a certain taste out of the dishes. The spices are mostly freshly imported from Guyana and are used heavily within the dishes.

 

From this interview, we understand that home means lot to these Caribbean migrants. This is the reason that the restaurant puts so much effort to obtain these spices. Sybil’s wants to give the customers the exact same taste as if they were at home. Thus, many customers trying to bring back memories through their taste buds. After all, the diaspora away from Guyana has stripped away a sense of cultural heritage, which Sybil’s gives back to the community. Most of customers said “the food brings back memories of the times when their parents cook these meals and envelopes them in their cultural heritage.”

Citations:

1. City Lore. “Indo-Caribbean Neighborhood Tour 3: Nightlife at Singh’s life ” YouTube. YouTube, 4 June 2012. Web. 15 May 2016.

2. Anonymous. Interviewed by Kelvin Zheng.  8 June 2016.