Amid the dark clouds that almost threatened the appearance of Betty West’s participation in the Crop Over festival, the noted band leader defied many challenges…
Marshall launching new book on Wednesday barbadostoday.bb - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from barbadostoday.bb Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This week brought news that the century-old tradition of Christmas morning in Queen’s Park, which many Bajans look forward to, is on this year. Last week, we also learned that the curfew will be lifted on December 24, Christmas Eve, allowing worshippers to attend Midnight Mas’ and 5 a.m. Christmas morning service.Days after that announcement, Government met with the entertainment sector and agreed to lift the ban to allow parties and fetes to be staged under strict COVID-19 protocols.So while the Delta variant has caused our numbers to soar in recent times, and with eyes on the Omicron variant which is causing havoc worldwide, Bajans still feel the need to hold dear to many of their Christmas traditions. At least Government’s concessions suggest they do.For the Christian-minded, Christmastime must include a time for worship and acknowledging the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, Christmastime must include drinking “a rum and a punch a crema”, liming or partying
Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
New Yorkers debate loss of parking spaces for outdoor dining
On Monday, the
New York Post published a report revealing that about 8,550 NYC parking spots have been monopolized by roadside outdoor dining sheds during the pandemic, according to data provided by the city. That’s about 0.3 percent of the city’s total three million parking spaces.
The report kicked off, once again, a favorite pandemic argument for New Yorkers: Are outdoor dining sheds a welcome addition to the city’s dining scene or not? The
Post talked to restaurateurs on both sides of the argument in Astoria, with some saying that it has been a necessary lifeline during the pandemic while others argued that now their customers can’t find places to park. Residents, too, couldn’t agree on whether the sheds were a boon for the neighborhood or simply causing more traffic congestion.
“We are sold out! Thank you so much everybody!!!!” Former Gramercy Tavern pastry cook Lauren Tran types out the note and publishes the update to her Instagram feed. Months into the venture, Tran, 32, still can’t believe customers often snap up her $40 pastry boxes within hours of posting her weekly menu for Bánh by Lauren, her Vietnamese-French pastry business, on Instagram.
On a gray, snowy Monday in mid-January, with customers anchored to their apartments and scrolling through the app, Tran’s macarons and banh bo nuong a chewy, striated Vietnamese pandan honeycomb cake are irresistible. While customers light up Tran’s DMs to see if they can squeeze onto her waitlist, she’s plotting out her baking schedule for the next five days. Over 60 cumulative baking hours, she’ll make 80 langue de chat biscuits, 320 macaron shells, and five to six whole cakes. She’ll also test her recipe for banh bo nuong at least five times before getting up at 6 a.m. on Saturday to bak