Kamila’s Kitchen ready to bring bold, wholesome flavours to downtown Kingston
Published:Thursday | January 9, 2025 | 12:10 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
After igniting the mountain sky with enticing flavour and expanding to Marketplace in St Andrew, food and wellness entrepreneur Kamila McDonald is opening her third Kamila’s Kitchen in downtown Kingston.
“Just like the Marketplace location, we got a call to explore this new opportunity. The reality is, we needed to find a commissary space. There is a need for consistency in making our dishes, dresses, sauces and WellGood products in batches. But along the way, the plan evolved. Driven by the purpose of healing with food, we are leaping in faith and opening a restaurant. We could not have thought of a better location than downtown,” McDonald told Food.
This bold move comes in the wake of the Kingston Creative-led initiative to revitalise the city through art and culture and attract more tourists and locals alike. “We are honoured to join this legacy that is happening downtown and contribute to the increased vibrancy around reviving the sacred nature of the city,” she said.
As the offer takes tantalising form, the downtown location’s menu is identical to the one available at Marketplace, ensuring a consistent dining experience no matter where you visit. It features star dishes like the famous vegan-loaded nachos, made with McDonald’s very own WellGood cheese (vegan); the black and boasie burger; jerkshroom wrap (made with mushrooms); v-ital pizza; the salad of the day; curried or barbecued jackfruit; fricassee mushrooms; Rasta pasta; Singapore noodles, and the Melkam Gena Ethiopian special, which honours the country’s rich culinary culture with an island twist.
“The first and most important ingredient that goes into our dishes is love. Food is energy and it is something that we tackle as a team. We pride ourselves in keeping the staff ‘upful’, so that when guests step in, they will leave feeling transformed with a positive shift,” McDonald shared.
Other key ingredients include an engaging approach to nuts and seeds, employed in a plethora of ways, especially in the sauces, soups, and bases for dishes and desserts. For those with nut allergies, she creates an ideal alternative for sauces by using sunflower seeds. “You can get the same creaminess from sunflower seeds that you get from cashews,” the restaurateur added. The coconut aminos stands in place for soy sauce as a great flavour agent as well. It is not only naturally gluten-free, according to McDonald, but it presents less sodium than the popular liquid condiment.
GLUTEN-FREE DESSERTS
Zeroing in on making gluten-free desserts, the cassava flour replaces that all-purpose option. The vegan, refined sugar-free and gluten-free pastries range from chocolate chip, oatmeal and spirulina cookies to cheesecake, carrot cake, banana bread and recently, a Christmas black cake. Thrilled by the growth on the bakery side of the business, folks can now indulge in a sweet treat that is good for them and leaves them free of guilt.
Pleased to be at the same location as the local arts and culture catalyst, Kingston Creative, they plan to open their doors next Monday, January 13, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and provide breakfast to the customers. “People might not have a healthy option for that time of day downtown, so we want to provide that variety for them, like gluten-free pancakes, gluten-free muffins and protein muffins; breakfast burritos; tastes of Jamaica like ackee and salt prips, a salt fish alternative made with jackfruit; coffees; and herbal and healing teas,” she revealed. Meal preparation services are also available.
With a strong and significant presence already established at Skyline Drive and Marketplace, the hope is that downtown will welcome Kamila’s Kitchen with open arms and embrace this vital way of eating and living. “Be a part of our journey; come with an open mind, open heart and an open palate.”