For several generations, writer Ruth C. White’s family has called Kingston home. Now she—and her cousins—want you to add the city to your next Jamaica holiday.
Then on June 7, 1692, the town was mostly destroyed by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. In response to the destruction, Kingston was founded, and later, in 1872, was named the capital of Jamaica.
Today, most of Port Royal city is underwater (though definitely worth adding to your itinerary for any history buffs) and Kingston is home to one-third of Jamaica’s population. Of that population, 90 percent are of African descent, with the remaining population having roots in China, Syria, India, Lebanon, Germany, England, Ireland and Scotland. There’s even a small Jewish community dating back to the 17th century. It’s this diversity that inspired the motto of Jamaica: Out of many people, one people.
When I visit Kingston, I always stay with my cousin Emprezz Golding. Emprezz is a well-known personality in Jamaica, and a big advocate for the city. Having spent her earlier years growing up in Australia, Emprezz was pulled back to Jamaica by the culture, history and generational stories that connect her to the island.
“Kingston is a vibrant hub of creativity and culture that never fails to inspire,” she says over a glass of vino at one of our favorite hangout spots, Uncorked Too. This casual-dining restaurant in the north end of town near Stony Hill was launched over a decade ago by a group of wine-loving friends, and now has three locations across the island—a sign that locals are loving the creative “continental with a Jamaican stab” menu.
According to manager Kathy Evelyn, the menu “takes Jamaican products and local items and makes them extra special.” Like having ackee and saltfish—the national dish of Jamaica, a mix of yellow ackee fruit and salted codfish—on the brunch menu alongside eggs benedict. Or finding a side of callaloo (local chopped spinach-like vegetable dish) listed with the bagels.
Clubhouse Brewery & Tap Room is expanding local brew options beyond the iconic Red Stripe Beer as the first, and currently only, craft brewery in Jamaica. Located on the green at the exclusive Constant Spring Golf Course, their menu includes pale ale, stout, pilsner and IPA brews with Jamaican flavor highlights, such as coffee, sorrel and chocolate. My tasting flight features mango and sorrel lagers, with the latter having a spicy kick thanks to the island’s globally acclaimed ginger.
If you’re looking for Jamaican cuisine classics, head to Gloria’s Seafood City—located on the revitalized Victoria Pier area of the Kingston waterfront, home to an array of restaurants—and is known island-wide for its steamed snapper and year-round shrimp dishes.
And for a deeply local dish, you have to sample the spicy classic—jerk chicken. Nicknamed ‘pan chicken’ because it is cooked on converted oil drums by street vendors scattered throughout the city, the chicken comes wrapped in aluminum foil, and served with spicy sauce made from Scotch bonnet pepper and thyme, ketchup and a slice of Jamaican hard dough bread. Choose a vendor with a long line for the local stamp of approval.
The most famous export of Kingston is reggae music, and so it’s no surprise that reggae fans the world over have long been making pilgrimages to the Bob Marley Museum and the Tuff Gong recording studio where it all began.
But today the sound of Jamaica, and the predominant music of Kingston, is dancehall.
Dancehall is a genre of music (evolved from reggae), a style of dance, and a living culture. The global expansion of dancehall is rooted in the Jamaican diaspora and has grown in influence, with artists such as Beyoncé, Drake and Rihanna having built hits on its hard-driving bass lines.
Originally called ‘dub’, the drum and bass sound soon became known as ‘dancehall’ due to the dance halls where massive sound systems (groups of MCs with huge speakers) would play to crowds.
It’s just one part of the vibrant, thriving puzzle that makes Kingston so unique. Yes, Kingston has been a place of political violence, and like any big city, there are some neighborhoods that are safer than others, but in recent years Kingston has evolved. and is continuing to evolve, into a place where the beating pulse of Jamaican culture is on display in all its forms.
Every time I visit Kingston, my ‘real Jamaica’, there are new residential neighborhoods coming alive, new places to indulge in innovative menus, and new ways to be entertained.
As my cousin Emprezz says: “From the music studios where reggae legends have recorded their iconic tracks to the television stations that bring Jamaican stories to life, Kingston is a melting pot of artistic expression”.
