By Alexis Monteith/Contributor

Montego Bay’s DLE Café has brought its wellness cuisine to Toma Place at Phoenix Avenue in the Corporate Area, serving its signature brand of wholesome, organic dishes that popularised the restaurant in Montego Bay.

Owned and operated by husband-and-wife team John Anderson and Desrene Grant-Anderson, the new eatery, DLE Café On The Deck, is the first manifestation of their vision to expand from Montego Bay to every parish of Jamaica.

“We believe the timing is right and the market is ready to enjoy food that is engineered to deliver the highest nutritional value,” John Anderson said. “We strive to provide healthier options and premium quality food with an exceptional dining experience.”

The café serves a variety of salads, burgers, flat pizzas, pasta, wraps, smoothies, and baked vegan treats, such as banana bread, coconut cake, carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, and brownies.

DLE stands for Divine Living Essentials, and at first glance, the menu items may not seem to be all about wellness cuisine, but the proof is in the ingredients. DLE Café is committed to never using table salt, refined hydrogenated oils, GMO products, bleached defined flours, bleached refined grains including bleached rice, monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial flavours, artificial preservatives, and low-quality ingredients.

“Our menu is engineered to ensure that our guests are getting the best fuel for their bodies,” Anderson affirmed.

The Andersons also avoid microwave appliances in the preparation of their food.

The difference between the Kingston and Montego Bay restaurants is the dining experience.

“The new café in Kingston is outdoors on the deck in a garden of lush greenery, an oasis in the city, while the original café in Montego Bay is an indoor retreat,” the wellness entrepreneur explained. “The Kingston location is shaping up to be more like a catering hub and we will be pushing to include plant-based fine dining experiences on a regular basis.”

“We have had enquiries about using the space for events and it is something that we are actively looking at doing for corporate meetings (breakfast, lunch, dinner), small groups, private dinners, wellness days, smoothie days, baby showers and weddings,” he added. ”Additionally, our Kingston bakery has generated a buzz around our artisan breads, so we will be capitalising on that by offering baking classes.”

But Anderson also emphasises the similarities between the two eateries.

“We have standardised the menu and the service experience,” he related. “Both locations feel like a getaway from the business of the day, to enjoy clean healthy food in a friendly atmosphere.”

The couple’s journey to Toma Place on Phoenix Avenue was a long one. They discovered the location three years ago but the layout of the restaurant space did not match their vision, so they continued searching elsewhere, but without success. Then, two years later they got a call informing them that another space at the location was available.

“It was perfect,” John said. “A bit smaller than we envisioned, but the flow was executable and the space tied into our concept of focusing on nature.”

“We had to wait another year for the space to be prepared and handed over to us,” he continued. “During this time a completely new deck was built. We built the theme around the deck and so the name ‘DLE Café On The Deck’ was born.”

The café opened in early March and benefited from the popularity of the original restaurant on the north coast.

“A lot of our customers in Kingston are familiar with the brand from Montego Bay,” Anderson revealed. “They had been urging us to come to Kingston and now that we are here they are telling friends and family members. One guest commented that ‘DLE Café is a rare find’”

“We also use social media to get the word out that we are in Kingston,” he informed. “We want to make ourselves findable for those looking for clean, healthy, predominantly organic food. For those looking for an exceptional dining experience we are a Google search away.”

The two restaurants employ 13 workers: seven in Montego Bay and six in Kingston.

Over the next five years, the Andersons aim to position their DLE Café brand as a Jamaican leader in health and wellness food innovation being the go-to establishment for natural and organic food.

“We will continue to help to improve lives by making delicious, affordable and healthy food through expert partnerships, sustainable development and empowering our staff and guests to make healthy choices,” Anderson declared. “We intend to participate in more food shows like the Jamaica Observer Food Awards to build brand awareness.”