Situated behind an airy, bustling flower shop, Cafe Erzulie’s aqua walls and abundant potted plants bring to mind tropical climates, making it easy to forget the clatter of the JMZ train above the cafe’s Broadway Avenue location. 

Cafe Erzulie’s owners were inspired to open the shop after they took a trip to Haiti two years ago. The interior immediately put me at a breezy island ease, which was a welcome distraction from my normal “February in New York” mood. 

The owners, Mark Luxama, August Doyle, Justinian Montaperto, Chris Lee and John O’Neal, along with director of operations Shawnti Homenuk are all relatively young first-time business owners. They wanted to bring Haitian culture, food, and drink to Brooklyn in a way that, according to co-owner Justinian Montaperto, inspires patrons with a “direct relationship [to] nature.” The cafe’s name was inspired by the goddess Erzulie, the Haitian spirit of love, beauty, dancing, luxury, and flowers.