Food and drinks
The downtown Manhattan bar that’s filling to the brim
Friday November 10, 2023
The New York City Marathon had just ended and Kenyans gathered at this bar in downtown Manhattan. They called it the “Lower East Side,” I think. “Let’s meet at Donnybrook on the Lower East Side. » This is how Kenyans speak in New York. It’s an Irish bar, packed, with a Kenyan flag against a window.
A group of Kenyans from the marathon viewing team had come out on top just after Hellen Obiri’s chest touched the ribbon. They were therefore noisy, joyful and generous. We sat outside with journalists, including Alex Chamuda. When you sit with Mr. Chamdwada, you never need to take out your wallet for a drink, because the Kenyans just round him up, take pictures of him and buy him and all his loved ones, drinks.
Although New York is extremely expensive (I bought 500ml of water for five dollars in Manhattan and almost fainted when I converted it to Kenyan shillings), they don’t measure their whiskey, they pour it.
Donnybrook, true to any Irish pub, was a revolving door full of people with drinks in hand. As dusk quickly chased away the light at 5:30 p.m. and the cold set in on the streets, Kenyans became happier.
A gentleman with a doctorate in philosophy said to me, “Look, the problem with New York is that you have to be like water,” he muttered, “you have to take the shape of the ship in which one you are in. Before I could ask him a question about it, he touched my glass with his and said, “Just drink, today we don’t ask questions.” Before patting myself on the back and melting.
Sitting in the shade of Chamwada is like sitting under a tree with overripe mangoes, they keep falling on your head. I loved the energy of the Kenyans, the camaraderie, the sharing, the dynamism and the audacity of hanging our flag in an Irish bar. It was one of those nights you don’t want to end quickly, but this is New York, people have lives to run to, kids to say goodnight to, trains to catch… water in boats.