Miss Lily’s Two Part 4/20 Celebration

Miss Lily’s Offers Up A Fun Filled 4/20 Celebration  with Art, Fine Cuisine and  Musical Heights

Most great events encompass various aspects that lead to the gestalt of the overall experience.  Events that merge disciplines are usually the most fun because they create a cultural experience. Miss Lily’s  Two Part 4/20 Celebration mixed music with art and fine Caribbean cuisine in New York City.   More After The Jump…

Part I

The first part of the event was at Miss Lily’s Soho location and featured artist Mr. Martin and Deejay Rubie Lee

Art

Mista Martin, a New York City artist and teacher,  offered a live art painting for attendees on the outside of the restaurant. With the pleasant weather and many children interested in his work, this aspect of the event offered a captured moment for arts education that made the daytime aspect of the event, family friendly. Rubie Lee provided a variety of tunes in the genres of  reggae, dancehall, pop and EBM. Some notable songs played by this selector were Rihanna- “Work;”  Kranium -“Nobody Has To Know;” Vybz Kartel-“Fever;” Dexta Daps -“Shabba Madda Pot;” Capleton – “Slew Them;” Justin Bieber – “Sorry;” Macka Diamond -“25 Inches;” Gyptian featuring Nicki Minaj “Hold Yuh” Remix and Ayo- “Your Number”.  The music  could be heard within the walls of the restaurant and outdoors.

Cuisine

Ambience

The artistic design of the restaurant’s interior creates a retro, cultural vibe with the black leather trimmed seating with red, gold and green accents, album covers embellishing the walls and a disco ball.

As one walks through the 19 table restaurant with live bar, flags from many islands including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana wave like banners, welcoming you to the New York melting pot of cultures. The elegance of the back dinning area creates an intimate feel, provided by dim lighting and candles. Even though the music was loud, the attendees conversed at a reasonable noise level which made for a great cocktail and dinning experience. Miss Lily’s Restaurant (Soho, East Village, Dubai) owner and owner of The Rock House Hotel and Pushcart Restaurant in Jamaica, Paul Salmon and Adam Schop, Director of Culinary Operations for Miss Lily’s Restaurants intermingled with the urban, sheek crowd. Fashion filled the room, with lots of spring fashion including colorful blazers and paint suits. Some were dressed in business suits and others in camouflage, offering a spectrum of urban fashion.

(Pictured above: Angel (Boomshots), Chef Andre Fowles, Sandra Aiken – Senior Producer for Good Morning America and Journalist for ABC News,  Charlene Brown-Brand and Marketing Specialist and friend who is a Blogger)

Drinks

With a limited liquor license, there is no Hennessy and Coke, but the alternative options have a light, refreshing taste and still offer a slight buzz.

The event featured  the two most popular drinks on the menu:

Wata-melon

A refreshing, light  tasting beverage with fresh watermelon juice, lime, mint, and Soju (a korean sweet potatoe alcohol) and aguave  (a natural flavored sweetener).

Coco-Lily

This drink had a tangy taste with Japanese Sake, Soju, fresh coconut, water and lime

Food

At this event we are offering Munchies or foods you would eat when you are having cravings, but it does not contain any THC even though it’s 4/20 and the event has that title. We are doing a new Happy Hour from 4:20 to 7P daily, where we will serve platters of our more popular, finger food recipes; making for an option that is both value driven and tasty.“- Kate Fraser, Publicist for Miss Lily’s Restaurant

Chef Andre Fowles

” ‘My style of cooking is a refined, light Caribbean Cuisine,’ says the Award Winning Executive Chef at Miss Lily’s Restaurant and Two Time Winner of The Food Network Show, “Chopped”, who migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 2014. ‘I did my official training at the Culinary Institute of America in New Hyde Park but I have been doing this for many years and was a under the mentorship of Executive Chef Martin Maginley at  Montego Bay’s Five Star Resort Round Hill Hotel & Villas. For the Happy Hour, we are selecting what I like to call a Cou Cou Platter of our favorite, nostalgic dishes -Coconut Shrimp, Jerk Barbecue Ribs, Jerk Chicken, Cod Fish Fritters and Jerk Corn. “

I tried all of the foods above except the pork selection. The coconut battered fried shrimp and codfish fritters were mouth wateringly delicious. The jerk corn encrusted with toasted coconut was a sweet treat. The jerk chicken did not have the heat you would find on Nostrand Avenue but understandably so, because not everyone’s tastebuds can handle that type of fire. 

Part II

The festivities continued at the second Miss Lily’s location in New York ‘s East Village. Even though the session was from 10-2P there was an early crowd that arrived at 8:30P geared up to see Jamaican Selector Yaadcore and Virginia native, Saba Jenga, for a live session. One gentlemen who came from Brooklyn after work stated that he had been watching Yaadcore videos on YouTube for three years and was so excited to finally get the opportunity to hear him play live. A couple from Florida visiting New York for their 10th wedding anniversary expressed that they were pleasantly surprised that their first visit to Miss Lily’s Restaurant would be filled with musical entertainment.  The noise level at this location was louder. The music was pumping with a lot of bass and  3-4 rows of people awaited drinks at the bar; all tables were filled to capacity. People were dancing while dinning and many patrons were celebrating birthdays. The crowd waited in anticipation as Yaadcore set up to play.

Yaadcore

The International DJ opened the session with Bob Marley’s “Natural Mystic; ” vaporizing the crowd with a mellow vibe. The selector played a mixture of reggae with an interplay between lover’s rock, conscious songs and songs to match the event’s theme. Notable Lover’s Rock selections were: 2Face Ibidia- “Afrikan Queen;” Tarrus Riley -“Royal; ” Pressure Buss Pipe – “Love and Affection;” Estelle featuring Sean Paul- “Come Over;” Sizzla Kalonji – “Dry Cry;” Beres Hammond “I Feel Good;” Bitty McLean-“Walk Away From Love;” Kabaka Pyramid – “Waiting For You” and Bob Marley “Turn Your Lights Down Low” featuring Lauryn Hill. The ladies in the crowd could be heard shouting the love lyrics.

(Queen Treya and friend feeling the Natural Mystic of Yaadcore Selections)

The high grade selections were very impressive and caused people to skank and flick lighters. Some of the ganja tunes were: Tony Curtis -“High Grade;” Rita Marley – “One Draw;”Barrington Levy- “Under Mi Sensi;” and Jacob Miller – “Tired Fi Lick Weed Inna Bush.” Next up was Saba Jenga, who opened her performance with a militant free flow over the classic “War” riddim from Bob Marley song “War.” Then Saba  delivered two of her original songs, “Natty Gal” and “Bud Mon.” This artist held her own before this amped up New York City Crowd with an impressive live performance to end this New York City night to remember.

In Cover Photograph (from Left to Right): Executive Chef, Andre Fowles and Director of Culinary Operations, Adam Schop

Written By: Angel Love @LoveDeepAngel

Follow @Boomshots

Like Boomshots on Facebook

Subscribe to Boomshots TV

One Response

  1. Iceborgg says:

    Well, Thank you, Angel Love, for educating and bringing to the forefront of great musical artists, but now I see a new aspect of your writings besides music, and that is keeping us inform about all our Brothers and Sisters doings, even the Culinary and the Arts…….Well Done

Leave a Reply