On this drab morning, the Harlem sound is muted but still, it’s dynamic. Sounds of the city, songs of its past, voices of its people-all manifested in so many ways. And for those in tune-those who really listen-there is always something, or someone, to hear. New York City is sensory overload in all the best and worst ways there’s always something to see or smell, to touch or be touched by (or to avoid touching altogether).
But he paints such a vivid picture, I can practically hear the composed tune of that party, its signature sound and style. That sun-drenched summer Saturday in Samuelsson’s mind is particularly disparate from the drizzly early spring Monday morning we’re currently subject to. It’s the most normal thing-they just want to have a party in the park.” They bring their cousins, they bring some chicken, they have someone DJing and they dance. “When you have moms setting up next to big signs in the parks that say, ‘no grilling,’-and it’s the nicest families, barbecuing away. “ is very much inspired by what happens in Harlem every weekend in the summertime,” he tells me from inside the restaurant, which opened in 2015. When concepting Streetbird, Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s second Harlem-based spot, it was a view like this one that laid the initial track for his vision. It’s a vibrant scene-bold and lively, authentically human-authentically Harlem. Hip hop sizzles, grills flare, families congregate in observance of nothing more than freedom from their apartments and simple access to fresh air. Residents relish in the sun they’ve waited so long for they don’t even seem to mind the stifling heat of a humid, city afternoon. It’s an impromptu celebration of a season, one so important to a population perennially battered by brutal winters. It’s tough to tell if the tufts of steam are coming from subway grates, or from the barbecued chicken being grilled at the hands of mothers and grandmothers on the periphery of the promenade the sounds of the two blend together into one seamless, sensory composition. Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in The Heat Issue of Life & Thyme.
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