It was the kind of rain that soaks through shoes and clings to clothes, but at Crown Bay’s Austin Monsanto Marine Terminal on Wednesday, no one flinched. With steam rising from soup pots and the scent of grilled seafood drifting through the air, Senate President Milton Potter reminded the crowd why they had gathered.
“This fair represents who we are as a people—resourceful, creative, and grateful even in challenging times,” Potter said during the opening ceremony for St. Thomas Carnival Food Fair. “Each dish tells the story of our African ancestors, who brought their culinary wisdom through the Middle Passage, blending it with European and indigenous traditions. And here, in every bite, those stories live on.”
That spirit of generational pride, of memory passed down by hand and heart, was at the center of the event—reflected not just in the fare, but in the lives of the people who brought it to the table.
Food Fair honoree Miranda Isaac, best known as “The Spice Lady,” said her journey began beside her mother, Leon B. Riley—“Sista Riley” to most—who set up shop in Market Square back in 1989. “I used to help her order the fabrics from Orlando,” Isaac recalled after the ceremony. “Two weeks later, they’d be sold out. People wanted something special to wear to village, to the queen show. It was tradition.”
Over time, her attention turned to spices—especially those she could bring home from Dominica, like the rich vanilla bean that became a family staple for brewing cocoa tea. “The bean is hard to grate,” she said with a laugh, “but it makes all the difference.”
For Isaac, selling spice is about more than flavor. “It’s memory. It’s how we honor the people who taught us.”
That same thread ran through the booths lining the grounds, and the soaked streets outside, where longtime cooks and first-timers alike served up food steeped in love and legacy.
Chef Darnell Flax had one of the longest lines of the day—a snaking crowd braving the drizzle for plates of seafood he’s never been able to eat himself. “I’m allergic, isn’t that something?” he said with a chuckle. “But I still love cooking it.”
A graduate of Johnson and Wales University, Flax currently works for Disney in Orlando, but returns home each year for Carnival, encouraged by his mother and supported by his sister and grandparents, some of whom served with him on Wednesday. “They keep encouraging me to come back and open my own food truck, or maybe something bigger,” he said. “But it starts with home. It always starts with home.”
Home was also the inspiration for Nicole George Petersen, owner of Na’kye’s Kitchen. Her cooking honors the memory of her son, Na’kye, who passed away nearly 20 years ago and loved to be in the kitchen. “Everything I make is for him,” she said, describing the dishes she began preparing at 1 a.m.—barbecue chicken, steamed salmon, pork, Spanish rice, and vegetables—all taught to her by the women in her life. “My grandmother, my mother, my mother-in-law… they’re all in the kitchen with me,” she said.
A few booths down, Chef Nicole—founder of Finally Real Cook Food—grilled lobster over an open flame while sharing stories of learning to cook from both her parents. “My family’s from Antigua, and every meal was an event,” she said. “This food isn’t just about what’s on the plate. It’s about where you come from. Who you love.”
That love was on full display—beneath tents, under umbrellas, and even in the open air—as the crowd swelled with locals and visitors. The arrival of the Wonder of the Seas cruise ship brought more than 7,000 passengers into port, some eager to taste what the Virgin Islands had to offer.
“I waited two hours for this lobster,” said Leo Correia of San Diego, holding a foil-wrapped grilled tail stuffed with crab. “Worth every second.”
By afternoon, the rain had faded slightly, leaving behind puddles and steam and the hum of laughter and music. It was the kind of day where generations met under one roof—some selling, some buying, some remembering—and all part of the story that Potter began to tell that morning.
