Grace Food Festival serves up flavour, family fun at Hope Botanical Gardens
Published:Thursday | August 28, 2025 | 12:05 AM
Food was the main attraction last Saturday at the 2025 Grace Food Festival held at the Hope Botanical Gardens in St Andrew. The event gathered restaurants and street vendors for a vibrant, all-day culinary experience and drew families, food enthusiasts and casual visitors who indulged in dishes that spanned Jamaica’s culinary landscape.
The festival highlighted food in its many forms, from traditional soups and jerk to seafood, pasta and lighter café-style fare. Attendees arrived steadily throughout the day, spreading out on picnic blankets and under trees as they made their way through the stalls. Tacbar served tacos seasoned with local spices, while Super’s Spicy Doubles presented Trinidadian-style street food with a Jamaican twist. Fyah Side prepared jerk chicken and pork on open flames, sending smoke curling across the lawns and drawing queues to its stall. Presto Pasta catered to those seeking Italian dishes with a Jamaican spin, while Waah Gwaan Café offered lighter, more contemporary bites. Beverages flowed from the Grace Bar, and cool treats such as shaved ice and candy fruit provided balance against the spicier options.
Bulbie Soups proved to be one of the day’s busiest vendors, attracting crowds that remained consistent from morning to evening. Operated by Nickardo Sayers, the stall is well known in Kingston and St Andrew for its soups, including chicken foot, red peas and pigtails. Many patrons described it as an essential stop. One attendee, Karnany Henry, remarked, “The pigtail and goat soup are very rich, the taste is consistent and worth the wait,” noting the generous portions. Another, Kadesh Levene, described it as authentic and comparable to traditional Saturday soups served in Jamaican households. Visitors patiently joined the line, collecting steaming cups before returning to their seats on blankets and at picnic tables.
DELICIOUS SEAFOOD
Seafood also drew strong attention. Gloria’s Seafood City, the well-known Port Royal restaurant, offered curried shrimp, peppered lobster and mussels. Its signature all aboard mix, piled high with lobster, sprat, shrimp, crab and fritters, became one of the most discussed items of the day. Families laid out the platters picnic-style, with children sampling fried fish and shrimp between rides at the Kiddies Village. The dishes reinforced the restaurant’s reputation for hearty portions and robust seasoning, while also offering visitors the novelty of enjoying Port Royal’s fare in the middle of Kingston. One patron, D’Haima Robinson, summed up the sentiment, “It tastes just like sitting at Gloria’s by the sea, only here, you get it in the middle of Kingston.”
The atmosphere across the lawns reflected the balance between food and leisure. Attendees carried plates and cups between the stalls and seating areas, sharing dishes and comparing favourites as they went. Wooden tables and shaded areas under the trees filled quickly, while live music from the stage added to the steady rhythm of the day. Children moved between food and play, returning from the Kiddies Village to find parents still working through platters of jerked fare, seafood and soup. The open-air setting encouraged groups to linger, with families and friends extending their meals into long, social gatherings.
As evening approached, the festival grounds remained crowded. Diners stayed long after finishing their meals, talking and relaxing on blankets and benches while vendors continued to serve. The mix of traditional dishes, new variations and a relaxed park setting kept the event lively through to its close. For vendors, the festival offered direct engagement with a broad public audience, and for attendees, it provided both the comfort of familiar tastes and the discovery of new ones.