A new pop-up, Lakota Frybread Co., has been drawing crowds to Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick on Sunday afternoons this August. Raini Skye Field, the chef and founder, serves fresh fry bread from a folding table set up near the Knickerbocker Avenue entrance. Customers line up at noon, with prices starting at $6 for a plain round and going up for versions topped with honey or ground beef and beans.
Field identifies as Lakota and named the pop-up as a nod to her tribal roots. She prepares each order to order, working with a portable fryer and a small cooler for ingredients. Most Sundays, she sells out within three hours, according to regulars who stop by before the afternoon heat sets in.
Fry bread carries a complex history, tied to Indigenous resilience and displacement. Field says she wants customers to understand that story. Each order comes with a printed card outlining fry bread’s origins during the forced relocation of Native peoples. She says many first-time visitors ask about the history while they wait for their food.
The pop-up debuted in early August and is scheduled to continue through the end of the month. Field says she is considering additional dates in September, depending on demand and weather. Maria Hernandez Park, popular with local families and skateboarders, has seen an uptick in food vendors this summer as outdoor dining remains central to the neighborhood’s weekend routine.
For now, Lakota Frybread Co. operates Sundays only, with updates on future appearances posted to social media. Field says she hopes to expand to other city parks later this season.