Sort-of Secret: Kitchen King, modern Caribbean comfort food at Yorkdale mall

The sort-of secret: Kitchen King, a fusion Caribbean joint with a cult following You may have heard of it if: You’ve been following the chef on TikTok, or you’ve been in the Yorkdale food court recently But you probably haven’t tried it because: It was based in Oshawa

Donovan Smith was at the height of his career in The Bahamas, working as a private head chef for the rich and famous at The Four Seasons Ocean Club Resort in Nassau. But he had dreams of a bigger city. As soon as they saved up enough money, Smith, along with his wife Raven Smith and three-year-old daughter Sarai moved to Vancouver in the middle of a pandemic winter in 2021.

He had one thing on his mind: building a global modern Caribbean food brand. But he had to start somewhere, so he took to social media to reach the masses, with a lot of help from Raven. At first, it was lengthier YouTube tutorials for approachable dishes like chicken tenders under the name Kitchenking101. After a technical mishap wiped out at least three videos worth of footage, he decided to stick to short-form cooking content. They also realized that Vancouver didn’t have the fast-paced city living they were craving. So five months in, they packed their bags again and moved to Toronto.

Starting over in a new country is hard enough, moving in the middle of a global pandemic is something else. “We had a hard time finding an apartment—Toronto is crazy,” he says. “But I was so keen on trying to make it that we were making Instagram reels in Airbnbs.”

When Lonie Murdock opened Miss Likklemore’s in August 2022, she brought Donovan on as a chef. “I was fortunate to be a part of something that was bringing Caribbean food to the forefront of fine dining,”  says Smith. Even better? Murdock let him film videos in the Likklemore’s kitchen. “I was experimenting with oxtail, and she let me do that in a professional space.” It’s where the plantain oxtail Philly cheesesteak, a Kitchen King specialty, was born: shredded oxtail, onions, peppers, secret seasoning, and cheese in between pressed, fried plantains instead of a bun. As soon as he uploaded the video to TikTok, it went viral.

Related: Whats on the menu at Roywoods, a new Jamaican spot on Ossington

Raven started noticing that whenever plantain or oxtail was involved in a recipe, the video got attention. So, Donovan put oxtail in an egg roll with cheese. He made plantain fries and topped it with oxtail gravy for a Caribbean-style poutine. Plantain pasta with Cajun lobster and garlic coco bread? He did that, too.

What looked like a pandemic hobby—cooking for his family and posting it on social media— was really a side hustle to help fund his dreams and build a brand. Donovan started sharing recipes via monthly subscriptions to his broadcast channel on Instagram, and selling homemade Jamaican patties, oxtail gyoza and seasoning blends from a ghost kitchen in Oshawa. He also released a digital cookbook, catered events and hosted pop-ups. His Instagram follower count went from 1000 in October 2023 to 100,000 only a few months later, and these days there’s more than 197,000 people along for the ride.

It wasn’t long before Caribbean fast-food restaurant Roywoods owners Regis Ray and David Isaias reached out. The creative liberties Donovan had taken with traditional recipes had left an impression, and they asked him to partner with them at their Yorkdale location. Donovan didn’t have to think twice. He’s completely revamped their Yorkdale menu, and added his own roster of “Kitchen King O.G.s”: oxtail lo mein, jerk chicken, oxtail sliders and the famed oxtail Philly.

The move to Yorkdale is one step closer to bringing Caribbean food to the forefront of global cuisine. “It should be there already,” says Donovan. “Caribbean cuisine is such a melting pot of different cultures: Asian, European, African….” Next on the list for him is a factory (currently underway) to manufacture all of his plantain-infused products and seasoning blends for people to use at home. “Maybe I’ll make a plantain-infused wine. I think that’s my thing.”