Food made with love - Ashanti Restaurant serves up fun, tasty vegetarian food choices

Jody-Anne Lawrence, Staff Reporter

The sound of the waterfall filled the air, making having lunch at Ashanti truly an intimate, lush experience.

Ashanti Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant caters to the needs of vegetarians without making the absence of meat a daunting experience. For this reason, even meat lovers love and praise its cuisine.

Manager Tricia Powell has been changing what she eats since she began working at Ashanti.

"Well, at first, I was wondering how it was going to be working here, because we don't even allow meat on the compound. But I don't miss meat, and I have even lost some weight since having the food we prepare here. I even feel better," she told Food.

The restaurant that was once located at Hope Gardens and the Pulse complex has now reopened after being closed for approximately three years. It was part-owner and founder Yvonne Peters-Hope's love and passion for food that pulled her back into the venture.

"After being out of business and still having a passion for food, I decided to reopen Ashanti. I asked my family members to help and they came on board," she told Food.

Now located at 12 Braemar Avenue, Peters-Hope is moving away from the business side and sticking to the creative aspects of the restaurant. While she creates, Powell takes care of the business.

What is new about Ashanti? With an expanded menu, it now offers dishes that are gluten-free and wheat-free to accommodate patrons who can't or simply don't eat those products. They are also expanding the number of dishes they offer without rice, as some of their customers want to consume less rice.

"We are also now baking our bread in-house instead of ordering it, so we can monitor exactly what is being put in it," Powell explained.

Like a perfect teammate, Peters-Hope added: "Yes, because everything that we put into our food is natural grounded grains and no powdered seasoning. We don't want anything in there that a vegetarian might not eat."

This is especially important to Peters-Hope, who has been a vegetarian for decades.

"It is my lifestyle," Peters-Hope told Food. "There are not many places that you get authentic vegetarian food and I want it to be appetising. I know sometimes being a vegetarian can seem bland, so I make sure to season the food according to the Jamaican palate."

JAZZING IT UP

This is also specific to the black-eyed pté, which she first saw prepared on a trip to Africa. She knew that Jamaicans like their food highly seasoned, so she 'jazzed up' the recipe so that Jamaicans could thoroughly enjoy it.

Peters-Hope says she also tries as much as possible to use Jamaican produce to make the meals.

"I can tell you that 80 per cent of our budget is spent on local goods and market produce, and 20 per cent on certain grains that might be hard to source or just not available locally," Powell informed.

Ashanti's menu ranges from a variety of salads to pasta and stuffed tofu, but what is a must-have and restaurant favourite is the veggie balls. Peters-Hope affectionately describes it as "a prelude to a kiss in a seductive Ashanti sauce".

The restaurant also has a variety of natural juices for everyone to enjoy. These include cane juice, coconut water, orange juice, green juices, and apple juice made with our own otaheite apples.

jody-anne.lawrence@gleanerjm.com