Chef 'Stikxz' Talks Miss Lily's & The Caribbean Food Renaissance

Brittney Williams is everywhere lately. You may know her as Chef Stikxz. In 2025, she landed at Miss Lily’s 7A Cafe as culinary director, introducing a brand new menu at the East Village eatery built around Jamaican staples: Peppa Shrimp, Oxtail Stew, Escovitch Whole Snapper and, of course, Miss Lily’s World Famous Jerk Chicken. “You get the spice, you get the salty, you get the umami,” she says on a video call. Also on the menu are Jerk Corn, Pork Belly Coco Bao, and Jerk Mushroom Lettuce Wraps—a flavorful reimagining of traditional recipes across the Caribbean diaspora, executed with the finesse of her fine dining background.

When she’s not at Miss Lily’s, Williams works as a private chef, serving clients in and around New York City, her hometown. In the midst of catering a large Christmas gathering upstate, she dialed in with MadameNoire to talk about Miss Lily’s, the Caribbean food renaissance, and what she’s cooking up next.

Renaissance

At this point in her career, Chef Stikxz is witnessing the rise of Caribbean restaurants—elevated, empowered, and commanding the attention of critics and diners alike. “It’s the renaissance of Caribbean cuisine right now,” she says. “The Caribbean Massive is just crushing the food scene.”

The visionary chef is among a growing cohort that is redefining modern Caribbean plates. “We have people like Chef Camari Mick, Kwame Onwuachi, and Andre Fowles, where we’re pushing the envelope of what Jamaican cuisine is, or what Caribbean cuisine can be,” Williams says, also shouting out Paul Carmichael of Bar Kabawa, Lonie Murdock—“she’s crushing it in D.C. right now”—and Nneka Nurse, a leading voice who champions Caribbean gastronomy and the chefs behind it.

“It’s like one big incredibly communal experience to do it with all these chefs, because it’s a small world to a certain degree” she adds. “Now that we see so many people dominating, we get to extend our hands to everyone that wants to come up and do their thing. We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”

It’s about time Caribbean chefs got their due, with their dishes lighting up taste buds and earning buzz across the global food scene. “The Caribbean has such a stronghold on people now because, yeah, you know Jamaican food to be jerk chicken, rice and peas, and curry goat. But people are starting to galvanize their palates to understand that this cuisine is actually quite nuanced and technically driven,” says Williams.

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Queens Girl

Williams’ path to Miss Lily’s was a natural evolution—from growing up in a Jamaican household, to honing her craft in fine dining, and coming full circle at the cutting edge of Caribbean cuisine. A certified Queens girl, she hails from Rosedale, NY. Her fascination with flavors began in her parents’ kitchen. “It all came from home. My mom is a phenomenal cook, let me tell you,” she says. Her favorite dish? “Curry goat, curry goat, curry goat.”

She entered the world of fine dining at Jungsik, the Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in Tribeca, before moving on to Marc Forgione. Simultaneously, she launched BWC Catering, building a loyal clientele that she still serves to this day. “2015 is when I started my catering company while I was working at Jungsik,” she says. “While I was working at restaurants, I was also running my business. I have incredible clients that are very flexible with my schedule.”

Miss Lily’s

Traveling the world is one way Williams inspires fresh ideas to bring back to the kitchen. She was just in Dubai visiting Miss Lily’s Middle East location. “The freshness of the fruits is far beyond any I’ve had. It’s insane,” she says. Back home in Manhattan’s East Village, on the corner of 7th Street and Avenue A, her domain is Miss Lily’s 7A Cafe, a bright and welcoming oasis—you can’t miss it. Step inside, and the menu and vibes are equally vibrant, blending warm island energy with bombastic flavor profiles.

“The experience has been so much fun. Miss Lily’s has been a staple in New York City for quite some time now,” says Chef Stikxz. “To be part of this team, to be able to create food that I grew up eating that I get to show the world, it’s a fun and exhilarating time and it’s very inspirational.”

The chef’s creative process is imaginative and modern, yet grounded in her Jamaican roots. “I don’t like to limit myself when it comes to food. I love to have fun with ingredients,” she says. “Like taking something that’s super familiar to another level in which people don’t expect. I like being in that space.”

What’s Next

Building on her momentum at Miss Lily’s, Chef Stikxz is just getting started. Next, she’s teaming up with celebrated pastry chef Camari Mick to open a new restaurant, an Afro-Caribbean brasserie called L’Atelier Ébène. “It’s something new and very exciting, owned by women, super Black and super Caribbean, where we are narrating the story of the food pathways from Africa to the Americas,” she says.

According to the chef, the mark of a great restaurant is the heritage served in every dish. “There’s so much about history that food tells,” she says. That pride is her signature—reflected in thoughtfully designed menus treating Jamaican and Caribbean dining with a contemporary lens. “I feel like that’s what longevity is all about,” Williams says. “It’s about the root, it’s about the acknowledgment of your history, culture, and heritage, and being able to bring it forward.”

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