Calabash Ital Rastarant

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I decided to do an entire post dedicated to this restaurant and shop that we found in Ocho Rios. We did a lot of things on this trip and every day was packed with activity (what we didn't do was sleep very much). However, not everything we saw or did was worthy of its own post. This place was.

Due to the fast of Ab Tsom (Great Lent) that began in February, I was eating no animal products on this trip. This can get challenging in a lot of places, but I knew that in Jamaica I'd be able to find some Ital restaurants. I've already explained what Ital food is in one of my previous blogs, also going into detail about Tsom. Essentially, Ital is natural, organically-grown food, usually consisting of no animal products. And Tsom is the word for fasting in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, during which no animal products are allowed. There is a nice, comfortable crossover there.

I'd seen the Calabash Ital Restaurant while walking around the town with Chelly and today I decided this was where I wanted to go for breakfast. I loved everything about this place. This is the kind of place I take as inspiration for what we want to do at the Rastafari Community Development Office in Mombasa. I actually took a bunch of photos here to send to Ras Franklin in Kenya, even sending him a snapshot of the owner's business card so that they can network. There are many things happening here that we'd love to implement in Kenya.

Here's a rundown of some of my favorite features:


• It actually all starts with the signage on the outside of the place and the decorations on the walls inside: Bright African colors, images of natural products, foods, juices, and Rastafari symbolism.
• Inside, you've got the smoothie bar, represented as a menu of "life juices". Great ingredients in these. I would love to see these kind of smoothies replace all your Jamba Juices and Orange Juliuses that are just filling the people with cheap sugar.
• Then, there's the Ital kitchen itself. They have a permanent menu, which is basically all the stuff that's available for catering and such. And there's the daily menu, what's actually available in the kitchen today. A nice variety of Jamaican and African foods, all completely free of animal products.
• There are shelves of roots tonics: medicinal drinks brewed from various herbs.
• We found a wide variety of herbal healing products.
• Natural foods like bottled juices, pumpkin seeds, honey, spirulina, kelp powder, and lemongrass powder filled many of the shelves.
• The bookshelf was kind of sparse, but the books that were found there were an excellent selection of conscious readings about Africa and Africans in the west.
• We saw many handmade Rastafari goods, such as calabash bowls and coconut chalices.
• Amongst the many flags and wall-hangings , there was a large Garveyite flag decorated with inspiring quotes and Ghanaian symbols.
• There was also a selection of posters, wall clocks, and plaques featuring images of His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I (who, if you didn't know, is the man once called "Ras Tafari" and the inspiration for the entire movement in the first place).
• The Rastafari souvenir goods (badges, keychains, stickers, lanyards, hats, and more) were the kind we already have on stock in our office in Kenya. Some of these items might be handmade (such as the beadwork pieces), but some are likely made in China or Indonesia (somewhere like that) and then shipped to both Jamaica and Kenya.


Chelly and I both got thick, nutritious smoothies. I think mine had Irish Moss and various nutmilks and oats, while Chelly's was mainly tropical fruits. We also picked one up for a friend we made outside. The dawta who runs the shop had no problem with me taking pictures around the place to share with my bredren in Kenya (and also with you!)

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