DaJen Eats bringing vegan, Jamaican fare to Eatonville

When Jenn Ross first saw her future storefront, the space on Kennedy Boulevard in Eatonville was being used for storage with boxes and items lining almost every inch. “A stretch of the imagination” was needed to picture it as the future home of her vegan Jamaican cafe, DaJen Eats. “That’s bold,” I said. “That’s Jenn,” Ross replied matter-of-factly.

A transformation has taken place at 323 E. Kennedy Blvd. Her cafe was in soft-opening mode this week in a now-vibrant space that feels like an extension of Ross. Official hours and a menu will be announced next week.

A quote by Eatonville’s Zora Neale Hurston, author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and other novels, is emblazoned on one part of a wall: “Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at the sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.”

A floor-to-ceiling mural of a woman balancing a basket on her head covers another part of the wall. It represents her grandmother, a fishmonger in Jamaica.

“I wanted something in this space that was very much like home for me,” Ross said.

Ross characterizes the last few years of her business life as a series of reactions.

A chance meeting landed her a cooking demonstration slot at the Central Florida Veg Fest in 2015. The resulting cooking COMMENTARY classes led to the start of a food delivery service. Ross wanted to open a cafe, so she set up shop inside a gas station along Orange Blossom Trail. When her landlord ended her lease early, a “devastated” Ross began looking for a spot for an eatery.

“Sometimes things happen that push you to be better,” she said.

It hasn’t been easy — and there were many times she considered giving up or letting opportunities pass. She’s not fearless, Ross said, but she finds the strength to push forward.

“It’s, ‘Is this who you want to be, Jenn? Is this what you want to leave behind?’ ” Ross said.

Ross moved to the U.S. from Jamaica as a “broke as a joke,” nearly 17-yearold headed to college for “degrees in things that have nothing to do with food.” She began cooking at home to save money. After some cooking mishaps, she enrolled in online cooking classes.

Those lessons taught her the science of food, something that helped her later transition to a vegan lifestyle.

“For me, being vegan is living out the compassion that I feel,” Ross said.

By taking the seasonings associated with certain dishes or meats, the flavors can be mimicked — it’s just up to the cook to replicate the textures, too. By representing different cuisines in vegan fare, people from those cultures will be more open to trying her meatless food, Ross said.

At DaJen Eats, diners will be able to try stew peas and rice, ackee (Jamaica’s national fruit), porridge and other traditional foods. The restaurant allows Ross to continue her mission to make vegan food more relatable. It’s an honor to set up shop in Eatonville, one of the first incorporated black municipalities in the U.S., Ross said.

Eatonville is technically a food desert, or an area that lacks access to affordable healthy foods. The town’s residents also struggle with high rates of diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

“It’s made me more cognizant of the type of food [I serve] here,” Ross said.

Besides adding glutenfree options, DaJen Eats will use a minimal amount of oils and will air fry certain dishes.

Ross is also enlisting a new yet-to-be-named local company to supply juices and vegan bakeshop Blooming Pastries to make desserts. Ross said she wants to let others get to shine too.

“I’m of the belief that a whole bunch of people can come up together,” Ross said.