Shaileen Brighton-Ortiz going great lengths to provide tasty Lent menu
Published:Thursday | March 13, 2025 | 12:10 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
They say the food you eat can have a profoundly positive impact on your mind and body. And Shaileen Brighton-Ortiz knows all too well about the clear correlation between mental health and nutrition. It is for this reason that the psychologist has gone to great lengths in providing tasty meal options for the Lent season at Shay’s Wellness Spot.
Brighton-Ortiz tells Food, “The specially designed lent menu includes [the] Cobb salad and strawberry fields salad, for those who have given up on rice. There is also a delicious quinoa salad with chickpeas selection available; the cauliflower chicken wrap; the jerk chicken wrap; the BLT, which is a sandwich made with turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato [and] a really big seller in the morning.”
She continued, “For persons who are taking a break from meat, the seafood options of steamed fish with pumpkin and bammy, sprat with signature escovitch sauce, salt mackerel with ground provision or red herring served with plantain chips will meet your nutritious needs. The salmon bagel is a breakfast must-have as well. And who can say no to shrimp pasta?”
The menu line-up also features a wide variety of teas and smoothies, prepared with juices from extract, for detox, a perk up, a filler upper or a refresher.
As a child, Brighton-Ortiz, more affectionately called Shay, explained that she was always interested in what she consumed. By the time she became an adult, she fused her interest in food with her background in psychology to create a space where wellness isn’t questioned, but rather, celebrated in a flavourful fashion.
“For women in particular, they go through certain times of the month experiencing specific cravings. During that state, they may give into that desire, and while they get the pleasure, the guilt is also very much present. There are also persons who suffer through depression differently, causing them to either overeat or under eat. And this can lead to diseases and disorders, like anorexia,” she explained.
Having this knowledge propelled her to conduct extensive research on how she could mitigate these circumstances, adapt to certain environments and improve on what is eaten, even throughout a stressful time. It’s like satisfying a sweet tooth, for instance, in a naturally healthier way.
“I wanted to bring textures and flavours together to make food more delicious, enjoyable and fulfilling, as opposed to restrictive, which is what people associate with clean eating,” she revealed.
So the desire to balance what we eat, no matter the state of mind, and get ahead of the health problems facing society today pushed this entrepreneur to open Shay’s Wellness Spot in June of 2023. Finding a home in downtown Kingston, foodies working within the neighbouring communities were delighted by the delicious difference in each savoury bite. From there, the team relocated to Shop 10 in Lane Plaza on South Avenue, St Andrew, making the spot a cosy home for the past six months.
“The response has been great. People gravitated towards bubble teas, which are tea-based or milk-based, usually made from plant milk, as well as other menu options that were new and exciting,” Brighton-Ortiz highlighted. The hard-working and dedicated staff is also ready and waiting to greet you with a smile and pleasantly surprise those taste buds of yours.
With meal plans available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the hope is to shift the mindset and impact change in how persons indulge in food. While healthier foods are more expensive, Brighton-Ortiz performs a wholesome balancing act between affordability and great taste.
It is also her desire to make Shay’s Wellness Spot a household name, expanding the business across the island and the world.