AKRON, Ohio — At Irie Jamaican Kitchen in Akron, plantains bubble away in a deep fryer, and jerk chicken, left to marinate overnight in a special blend of scotch bonnet peppers, yellow onions, scallions, garlic, and spices, sizzle on the grill top.
Here, Chef Omar McKay hopes to allow diners a taste of the country he grew up in, while also putting his own twist on traditional Jamaican cuisine.
Growing up in Jackson Town in the Parish of Trelawny, Jamaica, McKay recalls the importance of community and remembers growing up watching his family cook.
“Food came into my life from an early stage when I was a little boy just watching mom, grandma cooking, you know,” McKay said. “It is part of the culture where everybody's in the kitchen, just learning how to cook.”
McKay’s love of food started young, even at 10 years old, he said he knew he wanted to cook for a living. McKay moved to America at 12 years old, and by 16, he was working in restaurants. Eventually, he attended the culinary arts program through Cuyahoga Community College.
“I learned that in culinary school, how-to, you know - you want to serve everybody,” he said. “So the whole idea of me creating Irie Jamaican Kitchen, I want to put some fusion products. I got some authentic products on there just to please everybody.”
McKay never forgot the lesson of wanting to serve everyone. As a result, his menu takes Jamaican cuisine's traditional dishes and flavors and gives them a new spin, hoping to cater to a broader audience.
“I wanted to do a little fusion with it, to get a little twist so people could be more comfortable to try it, you know because a lot of people [have] never heard of Jamaican food,” he said.
Wanting to share the flavors of Jamaica with others and not finding too many Jamaican options in the area, McKay was inspired to open his first restaurant about ten years ago in the food court of Richmond Town Square.
From there, he moved and adapted and now operates three locations of Irie Jamaican Kitchen throughout northeast Ohio with plans to open more sites. His restaurant’s name comes with a special meaning.
“It's a good feeling word,” McKay said of the colloquial Jamaican term “irie." “We’re feeling irie today, the food is irie. So whenever you eat that Irie Jamaican Kitchen, walking away, you're going to be feeling irie.”
Diners may also walk away feeling the heat, as evidenced by the use of scotch bonnet peppers in his jerk chicken marinade. According to McKay, spices, fresh ingredients, and herbs are key components of Jamaican cuisine, citing dishes like jerk chicken, oxtail, and curry goat as staples.
McKay said he has toned down that spice to make his dishes more palatable for a wider audience. In the hopes of encouraging more people to try Jamaican food, his restaurants are also fast-casual style, where diners can build their own bowls by choosing from a variety of toppings ranging from the nontraditional mac n’ cheese to the very traditional oxtail and cabbage.
He’s also made some other changes to the way dishes are customarily prepared, such as finishing his jerk chicken in the oven rather than on the grill in the restaurant setting and opting to use boneless chicken rather than bone-in, which he said many Jamaicans typically prefer.
In making these changes, McKay hopes his food has a wide appeal, both to Jamaicans missing the flavors of home and to those who are curious to try the cuisine for the first time.
“I feel like I accomplished something, I'm accomplishing my dreams, you know?” Mckay said. “I get to stay true to my roots and my culture and share that with other people. And it's a wonderful feeling.”
More information on Irie Jamaican Kitchen’s locations and menu can be found HERE.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above previously aired on 3News on May 29, 2022.