The Trini Table<\/a>. The restaurant serves authentic Caribbean flavors from the twin islands, the story of culture and community in a shared space featuring an Ethiopian and Jamaican business and a baker who specializes in baking muffins.<\/p>\nWhite and red checkered tables run down the center of the restaurant, and the air is filled with the aromatics of Caribbean, African and Indian spices. The atmosphere inside provides a sense of comfort, making it feel more like walking into a home than a restaurant. Eda Kendall and Tammi Ifill are co-owners of The Trini Table, which has called Sacramento home since last July.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we opened, people were so excited,\u201d Ifill said. \u201cTrinidad is known for bringing cultures together, and food is one of the ways we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their recipes have roots in African and Indian flavors that originate from the island\u2019s history of slavery and colonization. Saturday mornings here are known as Doubles Saturdays. Doubles, a popular Trinidad and Tobago street food, consist of seasoned chickpeas sandwiched between two pieces of fried dough known as bara. Individuals can customize the flavor of their double with a sauce of their choice, such as cucumber chutney, tamarind sauce, culantro sauce and pepper sauce.<\/p>\n
The recipes behind the cuisine are influenced by Kendall and Ifill\u2019s upbringing, with many of their dishes carried generationally through their families. Kendall says that they intentionally do things as they would at home for their customers to keep their food authentic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some customers who come and eat, and they actually say it reminds them of their parents\u2019 cooking or grandparents\u2019 cooking,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n
Some of Trini Table\u2019s customers have Trinidadian and Tobagonian heritage, but many people of different backgrounds enjoy their food. Ifill explains that their dishes share similarities to other foods outside of Trini culture, but small differences in the recipes provide tasty new flavors for customers while resembling a sense of familiarity.<\/p>\n
Sorrel, a Caribbean beverage, is made by boiling dried hibiscus flowers and being left to steep. Cloves, cinnamon and ginger are added and finally topped off with sugar, creating a fusion of sweet, tangy and earthy flavors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think ingrained in each of us is our cultural background, and we use that to enhance our dishes and our food. Even though you\u2019re using more or less one or two same ingredients, you still want that difference,\u201d Ifill said. \u201cWhen people come, it must be something that they wouldn\u2019t taste somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple said that even though they started out small in their first year of business, they hope to one day have their own restaurant space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to sell all my cakes back on the island, and I did that for five years. But it wasn\u2019t thriving as I wanted to,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cSo in my mind, I was like, I\u2019m never going to open my own business again. But as old people say, never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kendall said that their restaurant has already gone beyond just the food by building a community united by Caribbean culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we started this business, we literally did not know any other Caribbean folks. So I really like to nurture that and develop it with them,\u201d Kendall said.<\/p>\n
Ifill said that they have already begun to build a stronger Sacramento Caribbean community and that they hope to keep expanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ones in Trinidad love to talk and gossip. So they spread the word to everybody, and from that kind of cultural background,\u201d Ifill said. \u201cThe reality of that is, it\u2019s easier said than done, you know? And this is a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared in the Sacramento State Hornet.<\/p>\n