A Giant Caribbean Clubstaurant Heads to Brooklyn
Downtairs at Caribbean Social
Caribbean Social is from the owners of Suede in East Flatbush
Prospect-Lefferts Gardens will soon have a massive new restaurant and lounge dedicated to Caribbean food and culture with clubstaurant vibes and food from a former Miss Lily’s chef. Caribbean Social is from the team behind Suede in East Flatbush and opens on Friday, December 1 at 847 Flatbush Avenue between Linden Boulevard and Martense Street.
Chef Gary Lewis — who cooked at Miss Lily’s for four years as well as Negril Village in Greenwich Village — is behind the food here, which takes traditional Caribbean fare and updates it. Dishes include breadfruit poppers, jerk lamb skewers, Trini-style peppered prawns, jerk chicken with Parmesan herb biscuits, and more. The full food menu is below.
Downstairs in the 4,000-square-foot space is the dining room, while upstairs is The Christophe, a lounge meant for socializing and drinking. The bar program from George Duval features more than 100 Caribbean rums in a dark space with warm woods, exposed brick, and murals from artist Ron Bass.
Owner Chasen Hollacind left banking to open Suede after failing to find a Caribbean-geared restaurant for him and his friends. He started by throwing parties, and as his friends aged, they looked for a more family-friendly destination, which is how Suede came to be.
Now three years later, Hollacind wants to court the younger crowd again and opens Caribbean Social with clubby vibes aimed for the millennial set in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
“A huge part of our Suede patrons will come in from that area [PLG] and we wanted to be closer to them so they don’t have to make the commute,” Hollacind says. “And that area is now designated as Little Caribbean, so we wanted to be right in the heart of that.”
Caribbean Social opens Friday, December 1 and will be open Sunday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
