A Caribbean restaurant in Toronto has held robust at its location for 12 years, however began out with the proprietor’s involvement at her household kiosk at Harbourfront Centre for over a decade.
Their “One Love Corn Soup” and seasoned corn was a staple at summer season festivals held at Harbourfront.
One Love Vegetarian was opened as a bodily storefront in 2009.
“My goal and goal was to open a restaurant the place I’d convey my circle of relatives to get a plant based mostly meal,” Ikeila Wright, who calls herself “CEO accountable for cheffing, prepping, ground mopping, accounts and ensuring that the meals at One Love Vegetarian stays on level,” tells blogTO.
Earlier than opening the restaurant Wright held the equally spectacular title of stay-at-home mother for over 20 years.
“I needed to department out and have a enterprise of my very own,” says Wright.
“One Love Vegetarian was my alternative to be an unbiased enterprise individual.”
She’s been on the helm of the enterprise for its total existence. Whereas Wright could also be a pioneer within the Toronto vegetarian Caribbean scene, she’s removed from the primary to blaze that path, even on this location.
“We’re situated in what was previously Joyce’s West Indian Meals,” says Wright.
“Joyce’s was one of many first Caribbean grocery shops in Toronto opening in 1979. It was additionally was of the oldest Caribbean-owned companies within the metropolis, closing its doorways in 2007.”
She additionally shouts out Ital Vital, which opened in the identical period as Joyce’s, in addition to Veggie Thali, Veggie D’light and V’s Caribbean Restaurant.
“There are additionally the up-and-coming distributors that you will see that at vegetarian festivals and music festivals in the summertime months,” says Wright.
The Joyce’s vacation spot has been an enormous profit to the restaurant through the years with its location proper throughout the road from Bathurst subway station.
“We’re in entrance of the streetcar loop which supplies us visibility to commuters on the streetcars,” say Wright.
Nonetheless, she additionally says lots of people go them up as a result of they’re headed to Bloor, in the wrong way.
The vegetarian restaurant has a stripped-down menu however nonetheless serves their well-known corn soup.
They additionally do complete wheat or paratha roti and curries with chickpeas and potatoes or TVP soy protein, and for roti it’s also possible to get a filling of Jamaican pumpkin.
Curries are served with plentiful sides of basmati rice and peas, an natural facet salad, fried plantain and avocado.
Callaloo (Jamaican greens) is seasoned and steamed, and served with boiled inexperienced banana and Jamaican candy potato.
Their BBQ tofu stir fry is definitely one in every of their hottest dishes, but it surely’s additionally one in every of their most carefully guarded secrets and techniques: Wright will not inform me the way it’s made.
“From the time we opened our doorways, One Love Vegetarian has loved a various cross part of patrons,” says Wright.
“I can not say our clientele has modified through the years. Everyone seems to be welcome at One Love. Range is what makes Toronto the outstanding metropolis that it’s.”
