Trinidad by train
Major DJ’s new bar delivers a Caribbean vibe, and rum, to Brooklyn
J ILLIONAIRE wants NYC to get ready to rum-ble!
“I’ve always been a big fan of rum,” the Trinidadborn DJ, who’s one-third of the EDM trio Major Lazer, tells The Post. When he’s not busy spinning Top 40 hits “Lean On” and “Cold Water” with his groupmates Diplo and Walshy Fire, Jillionaire (real name Christopher Leacock) basically acts as the self-appointed Trinidadian culture ambassador to the US. His current priority: helping his country’s most prized spirit overcome its bad stateside reputation. “People here go to college, drink Bacardi 151 and swear off rum for the rest of their life,” he says. “But there are fine-aged rums the same way there are fine-aged whiskeys.”
The 40-year-old serves up several such varieties, including Angostura 1919 and Banks 7 Golden Age Rum, at his new Williamsburg bar, Clyde’s.
Trinidadian head bartender Cyllan Hicks pours the sugarcane-based booze into typical Caribbean cocktails (think rum punches) and more serious potions. Jillionaire’s favorite is the Night Nurse ($14), a riff on an OldFashioned that swaps the usual whiskey for 8-year-aged Bacardi and tops it off with Bénédictine, spiced coffee syrup, chocolate and Angostura bitters. On a recent Tuesday night, bargoers guzzled the Rum Sazerac ($14), with two types of rum, Velvet Falernum and orange bitters.
The cozy watering hole is named after Jillionaire’s grandfather, and is next door to Trinidadian restaurant Pearl’s, which the musician also co-owns. Through Clyde’s, Jillionaire hopes to sell New Yorkers on Trinidad’s laidback booze scene.
On the Caribbean island, he says, life is all about “liming,” or “our word for ‘hanging out.’ ” Trinidad has “a very unique drinking culture. We celebrate everything. We celebrate the weekend. We celebrate the weekday. We celebrate, ‘Oh, it’s Tuesday.’ ” Think fewer premeditated, Facebook-invite parties and more leisurely happy-hour hangs. After work, “one [drink] turns into two or three,” two friends turn into five or six, “and all of the sudden it’s a big lime.”
Be warned: After a few hours’ “liming” at Clyde’s, you may indeed need “somebody to lean on.” Clyde’s, 178 North Eighth St., Williamsburg; ClydesQuality.com