● vitall fusion · ● est. brooklyn · ● since 2014
What is Ital?
Rastafarian for vital. Food that increases the life force. We don't say plant-based. We say Ital — and it starts in Jamaica.
Rastafarian for vital. Food that increases the life force. We don't say plant-based. We say Ital — and it starts in Jamaica.
In Rastafari, "Ital" derives from vital — food that increases the life force. No chemicals, no preservatives, often no salt. It's not a diet trend. It's a 1930s Jamaican discipline that became a kitchen, and a kitchen that became us.
Twelve years on Church Ave, the same routine. We cook the patties in the morning. The juice bar opens at six. The chow mein leaves the wok past midnight on Fridays. Nothing in the kitchen has changed because nothing about Ital is meant to.
"There's a difference between plant-based and Ital, and it starts in Jamaica." — House rule, Vitall Fusion
Twelve years, three dishes never came off the board. Below the photo, a nutrition tip — the kind island grandmothers say at the kitchen door.
Long-stewed cabbage, callaloo, carrot, scallion. Soy-free brown sauce on stretched noodles. The dish that's been on every order ticket since 2014.
Cabbage · the slow vegetable. Cooked low, it sweetens — and the gut thanks you all afternoon.
Irish moss gel blended with cane, lime, and a soursop pulp the island grandmothers swore by. Cool, thick, alive. A glass before lunch and you'll feel the rest of the afternoon different.
Sea moss · mineral king of the ocean. 92 of the 102 the body uses. Drink it like respect.
Calabaza simmered down with bay, ginger root, and a hand of thyme from the windowsill. Served over bulgur. Quiet on the tongue, loud in the body the next morning.
Ginger · sun in a root. Settles the stomach, lifts the head, warms the hands.Sea moss and soursop. That's the whole thesis at the front counter, and twelve years in, it still draws a line out the door on Saturday mornings.
We blend in small batches. The moss is cooled overnight, the soursop pulp is hand-pressed. Add lime if you like. Skip the cane if you mean it.
Soursop · the leaf and the fruit both. Slow heart, calm sleep, that's what the elders said.
The corner with the green awning.