Welcome to this pioneer issue of Sunday Best Magazine, a monthly publication geared toward professionals in the Africana world. How did I come up with the publication’s name and what is the main objective of Sunday Best Magazine?

Many years ago I was jogging in Harlem, New York City, when I glanced toward a church building—I can’t recall which one—right at the moment that the congregation was letting out. The doors opened and the congregants, well-dressed sisters and brothers, flowed out in a display of spectacular colors. I was so captivated that I stopped running. The words “Sunday Best” echoed in my mind. That’s the origin of the name.

The main mission is to create an editorial platform where professionals in the Africana World—African Americans, Caribbean and African immigrants, especially those eager to give back to their communities—can congregate each month to “ground” with each other. Some of them are eager to also don their “Sunday Bests.” They don’t all have to do so.

Their professions range from: business, the church, politics, education, law, medicine, finance, engineering, real estate development, arts and entertainment, and other fields.

They’ll be able to share their stories; they’ll explain how they became successful—or how they’re working toward success, in their respective professions, and how they plan to lower the ladder so that others can also climb and enjoy success. They’ll educate readers of Sunday Best Magazine and learn from peers; they’ll communicate with and network with innovative, creative, and ambitious folk; and they’ll have opportunities to collaborate with others in building and growing socio-political and economic assets and power in the Africana World.

This inaugural issue of Sunday Best Magazine features Cheryl McKissack Daniel on the cover of the physical version of the magazine. She’s CEO of McKissack & Mckissack, a legacy Black-owned design and construction company founded by her ancestors in 1905. It’s also the oldest and largest Black-owned construction firm in the U.S. The brilliant story is written by the Gillian Glasco. This issue also features a Brooklyn pastor, Vivian Grubb, who’s a builder in his own right. Alarmed by the shortage of affordable housing in his community, Pastor Grubb partnered with the City of New York, the State, and a private real estate developer and used the vertical space above his church to construct affordable housing for low-income residents. Although there were only 67 units available there were 35,000 applications submitted highlighting the urgency of affordable housing. This important story was written by Arnelle Williams.

In this issue, we also learn about the dangers of asymptomatic hypertension from a leading researcher in that field, Dr. Kim Souffront, Associate Director, Center for Nursing Research at the Mount Sinai Health System. She’s also an Assistant Professor of emergency medicine and a nurse practitioner. Many people with the condition are unaware of the related ailments that they already have including heart diseases—meaning there are many potential “Walking Deads” in our communities. Dr. Souffrant hopes her pioneering discoveries can be timely-translated into impactful life-saving interventions. This highly informative interview was conducted by Kemi Gbohunmi.

These are just a few of the well-researched, eye-opening, and well-written articles you’ll enjoy in this first issue of Sunday Best Magazine. In upcoming issues we’ll introduce new sections as well as Sunday Best events, including financial literacy, home-ownership, and health-and-wellness seminars.

We hope you’ll subscribe to the physical version and spread the word.

Advertisers and event sponsors can reach out to me via [email protected] or Vernon Verdree via [email protected]

Milton Allimadi

IG: milton allimadi

X: @allimadi

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The pandemic could not have come at a more inopportune time for Justine and Juliette Masters, the sisters who own and operate Edge Harlem the popular community-oriented restaurant uptown. 

Their business had just celebrated five-years, the magical number by which the viability and survivability of most enterprises are judged, when the disease struck the nation and the world. “We more than broke even by then,” Juliette says, in an interview at the restaurant with Sunday Best Magazine. “The year before the pandemic, 2019, was out best year.” 

Suddenly the sisters—like hundreds of thousands of other business establishments in New York City, the State, and the nation—had to contend with the stay-at-home protocol that was declared in most states to help contain the spread of the covid-19 disease. 

For a business that relies on people coming out to eat—including on festive occasions, which now became rare—the sisters now had to deal with a customer drought. “Thankfully we were able to keep our business open. We didn’t want to let go of any of our hard-working employees,” says Justine. 

The sisters were able to retain their employees through funding from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) the SBA program that covered workers’ wages during the pandemic. 

You can tell how close these siblings are by the way each finishes the other’s thoughts, completing or complementing sentences during the conversation. It’s almost like interviewing one person. 

A major life-saver for restaurants also came when New York City waived zoning restrictions—now Edge Harlem was also able to serve food outdoors. “This really made a difference in the survival of our business,” Juliette says. 

Edge Harlem was able to boost revenue by starting food-delivery. “People heard that we were still open and wanted to show us their support,” Justine recalls. The delivery service continues and it’s become a reliable part of the restaurant’s revenue stream. 

The Harlem-residing sisters—their father is Jamaican and mother British—wanted the restaurant’s menu to include some of the foods they grew up eating. Not surprisingly, the menu features well-known staples like jerk-chicken and ackee and salt-fish; the latter served only on weekends. Other favorite menu items are: shrimp and grits; jerk chicken and waffle; salmon burger; fish and chips; coconut fish burger; coconut fish tacos; cod fritters; and mini crab-cakes.

Edge Harlem started as a coffee shop, with light fare, pastries and bakeries. However the sisters, both advocates of creating inclusive socially-conscious communities, didn’t like seeing people glued to their computer screens all days with no interaction. So they started broadening the menu, adding actual meals. This, naturally, meant more work in addition to managing Edge Harlem. “In the beginning I was doing the cooking as well,” Juliette, who has the culinary background, says with a laugh. It soon became obvious that the workload was overbearing. 

The sisters hired a chef who hails from the Ivory Coast, West Africa. “He took my menu and added his touch to it,” Juliette says. “We collaborate on some dinner specials together.”

The sisters say the capital to launch came from their savings and money from two private investors who were both paid back within 18 months. 

Juliet says the restaurant’s new customers come courtesy of word-of-mouth praise from satisfied customers and “having consistently good service and food.” The restaurant has also been featured in several publications and the sisters have appeared on Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s “Eat Up!” show on ABC7 TV. Edge Harlem was also included in the National Geographic documentary “Black Travel Across America.” The The restaurant has 4.5 stars on Yelp and Google. 

The restaurant is nestled on an ideal spot; 101 Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem, on a block close to some of Harlem’s loveliest brownstones on tree-lined streets. 

It takes only eight minutes to walk from a major subway station—where the A, C, D, and B lines pull up—on 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to Edge Harlem. 

So what’s next for the sister duo? Together with a business partner, Lesly Bernard, they opened a new eatery, The Good Good, on 119 Street and Park Avenue on March 2023. The new restaurant’s website says, it’s creative “bistro” menu “is inspired by the trio’s shared international and Caribbean heritage and features modern takes on comforting dishes of their childhood Sunday dinners.”

What role does faith play in their lives? Justine says: “Juliet and I are spiritual. We are people who believe in doing the right thing and that’s where we operate from; that’s how we operate with our staff, that’s how we operate with each other. We know that our great-grand mother and grand mother and grand father helped us to get where we are.”

Find out more about Edge Harlem by visiting www.theedgeharlem.com and www.thegoodgoodnyc.com

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