Colette Burnett & Super Wings NY | 2011 Brooklyn Interview
On August 17, 2011, Julianspromos sat down with Trinidadian entrepreneur Colette Burnett, founder of Super Wings NY, as her Crown Heights restaurant was gaining attention well beyond Brooklyn.
Hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, the two-part interview captured Burnett less than two years after opening Super Wings — and after her Caribbean-inspired wings had already earned major recognition, including a win against celebrity chef Bobby Flay on national television.
From Banking to Super Wings
Before entering the restaurant business, Burnett worked in banking.
In 2009, she took part in New York City’s FastTrac New Venture program while developing her business idea. She later left banking and opened the first Super Wings location at 1218 Union Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Super Wings took a familiar food — chicken wings — and gave it a distinctly Caribbean identity.
Caribbean Flavor in Brooklyn
The restaurant became known for wing flavors influenced by Burnett’s Trinidadian background and the wider Caribbean.
The menu included options such as Pineapple Jerk, Ginger Buff, Island BBQ and Trini Tamarind, offering something different from the traditional Buffalo-style wings commonly found around New York.
That Caribbean approach quickly helped Super Wings stand out in Brooklyn’s food scene.
Best Wings in Brooklyn
Only months after opening, Super Wings entered the first Best Wings in Brooklyn competition in 2010.
Burnett’s Ginger Buff wings with Lava Sauce took first place against restaurants from across the borough.
For a relatively new business, the victory brought Super Wings wider attention and helped establish the restaurant as one of Brooklyn’s standout wing spots.
Then came an even bigger opportunity.
Taking on Bobby Flay
Super Wings was featured on Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay, where Burnett competed against Flay in a chicken-wing challenge.
Burnett prepared her Trini Tamarind wings — and won.
The appearance introduced Super Wings and its Caribbean flavors to a national television audience while giving the Brooklyn restaurant another major boost.
By the time Julianspromos interviewed Burnett in August 2011, she had gone from leaving banking and opening a small restaurant to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur with national exposure.
Colette Burnett Talks with Vivaa
For the Julianspromos interview, Vivaa sat down with Burnett inside Super Wings to talk about the business and the journey behind it.
The conversation was released in two parts, giving Burnett an opportunity to discuss how Super Wings started and the attention the restaurant was receiving during its early years.
The interview captures Super Wings at an interesting point: the business had already experienced major success, but much of its growth was still ahead.
Super Wings Continues to Grow
Super Wings continued expanding after the 2011 interview.
A second Brooklyn location opened in East Flatbush in 2012, and the restaurant returned to the Best Wings in Brooklyn competition that year and won again.
What began as one Caribbean-inspired wing restaurant in Crown Heights had developed into a recognizable Brooklyn food brand.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The August 17, 2011 interview with Colette Burnett offers a look back at Super Wings during its early rise.
Burnett had already won Best Wings in Brooklyn and defeated Bobby Flay, while her restaurant was introducing more New Yorkers to Caribbean-inspired flavors through something as familiar as chicken wings.
More than fifteen years later, the two-part interview preserves an early chapter in the story of a Trinidadian entrepreneur building a Caribbean food business in Brooklyn.
