Owned by Secoyah Browne, a Trinidadian American, and Chandra Touch, a Cambodian American, Whisk and Whiskey in Park Slope blends the best of both of their food and drink cultures. Last Sunday, they also showcased their chops at fostering community in their third annual fall fest, an event that featured free tastings from other small businesses, including a Brooklyn brewery and an Upstate New York distillery.
Friends at first birthday drink
Browne, aka “Chef Coy,” and Touch met through a mutual friend about a decade ago at a Drake concert.

During the pandemic, the three of them threw elaborate parties for themselves while quarantining. It was also a time for reflection and recalibrating what really mattered.
Browne was tired of working for men in her career in real estate finance. And she had started to sell pastries from home on the side — classic cakes like red velvet but with a “twist of Trinidadian spirits in there.” She always planned to open a bakery later in life, perhaps after retiring.

And Touch was frustrated with working for people who didn’t recognize her worth. She had years of restaurant experience, but managers often didn’t treat her like it.
Meanwhile, she used her creativity to craft her own cocktail recipes: “Making cocktails to me is like cooking … I create a cocktail in my mind, and think of the specs, and then when I go to make it, I’m like, ‘oh, maybe I’ll change this by a tiny bit, or maybe it’s just so perfect because it was imagined in my head.’”

“On a drunken night, we were like, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we could open our own bar and dance together all night long?’” Touch said.
When the world started reopening, the perfect space presented itself. The friends looked at each other and said, “I’ll do it if you do it.” So they quit their jobs and dove headfirst into Whisk & Whiskey. (Their third quarantine housemate is also a co-founder who works behind the scenes in operations.)
Roots in every recipe
For Browne, food has always been a connector. Born and raised in Brooklyn to Trinidadian parents, she spent every summer at her grandmother’s house in Trinidad with six or seven cousins.

“Food and pastries were always centered in our family, and it was the way we showed each other love,” Browne said. “I guess I’m continuing that … that’s how I show my love to people.”
At Whisk & Whiskey, “Chef Coy’s” Trinidadian roots and Touch’s Cambodian influences entwine. They found out early on that tamarind and passionfruit are very popular in both cultures, despite the geographic differences. It made sense to incorporate them and other shared flavors in their “bakes,” a type of fried bread that is filled with various ingredients, and cocktails.

The result: a fusion menu where customers can find a sweet Cambodian-style crispy chicken bake, and a spicy jerk Caribbean chicken bake. Popular drinks like their “Maracas Beach,” a twist on the Daiquiri that pays homage to Browne’s grandmother, help customers handle spicier food.
A community hub grows in Brooklyn
Beyond bakes, pastries, and cocktails, Whisk & Whiskey serves up open mic nights, cooking classes, and pop-up dinners with guest chefs. It has been especially important for Browne and Touch to carve out a community space, especially for people like them, in Park Slope. They didn’t see many, or really any, Trinidadian or Cambodian restaurants or bars in the neighborhood before Whisk & Whiskey.
“So when people see that it’s here, like it’s in this space and in this neighborhood, they’re like, ‘wow, I don’t feel out of place here — I can bring my people here,’ ” Browne said.

This has proved especially true for Cambodians. When they hosted their first dinner party at Whisk & Whiskey, they sold out all 60 tickets, and 90% of the guests were Cambodian, Touch says. Some of these attendees had never met another Cambodian before, even though they had grown up here or lived here for more than a decade, she says.
The word has spread, and Cambodians from as far as Canada come through.
Touch says it’s especially meaningful given that the Cambodian community has been scattered globally since the 1970s’ totalitarian Khmer Rouge regime.
“We all look different … so we might just pass each other on the street and not even recognize other Cambodians,” she said.
As Whisk & Whiskey continues to grow as a community hub, Browne and Touch stay devoted to their mission of bringing flavors, vibes, and people together.

259 4th Ave in Brooklyn
(347) 799-1639
hello@whiskandwhiskeybklyn.com
Sunday-Thursday 8 a.m.–11 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 8 a.m.-12 a.m.
Monday & Tuesday Closed
Kitchen Closes at 9 p.m.
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