DINING

The secret to staying healthy

Cynthia Lin meets Mary Chan, founder of Garden of Eden

Located on busy See Cheung Street, Garden of Eden is a colourful store filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. Run by Mary Chan and her family, the shop also offers a selection of homemade juice.

Born in Sai Kung, Chan moved to England over 30 years ago, working in the food industry. After her children grew up and moved out, Chan decided to move back to the city of her roots. She started her business eight years ago to promote a healthier lifestyle. “My family loves food, so I decided to settle down with a healthy juice store,” says Chan.

When first starting the business, Chan had little knowledge about promoting, “I knew nothing about smartphones or online networking, so the store was basically promoted by word of mouth.”

Chan has long been a sincere Christian and credits her dedication to the Lord as the inspiration for her shop. “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee,” Chan reads as she points to a label sticking on her personalised juice bottle, which quotes Job 22:21 from the bible. “And that’s where my inspiration comes from,” she says. Along with her family, Chan lives in a church located above the store and regularly holds worship events in Lai Chi Kok.

There is no fixed menu at the store, as Chan only uses seasonal fruit to experiment and develop new flavours. You’ll find the juice of the day in a foam box sitting outside the store. The first and most popular product at Garden of Eden is Chan’s beetroot juice, which consists of five different ingredients. “As our best-seller, it takes a long time to make,” says Chan. “Especially the guava in it, which usually takes a lot of effort to remove the cores and grind.”

In addition to the daily-delivered fresh fruit from Taiwan and Europe, the store is full of Chinese medicine herbs such as Dang Shen, Dang Gui, goji berries and jujubes. During the winter months, Chan mixes these ingredients to make warm herbal tea, improving sleep quality and “harmonizing qi and blood” (boosting energy levels).

“Using natural ingredients is what I’ve always insisted on,” says Chan. “That’s the secret to staying healthy.”

Find Mary at Garden of Eden, 33 See Cheung Street, Sai Kung.

Get juicing

Mary Chan shares recipes for her favourite juice

Beetroot fruit juice: nourishes kidneys • Beetroot • Guava • Apple • Pear • Honey pear

Treasure herbal tea: improves sleep quality and harmonize’s qi and blood • Dang Shen • Goji berry • Jujubes

Ginger juice with garlic and lemon:

promotes blood circulation and eases high blood pressure • Ginger • Garlic • Lemon • Apple vinegar

Dining News

Pirata announces plans to open five new restaurants

The hospitality group, known for restaurants including The Optimist, TokyoLima and The Pizza Project, has unveiled plans to launch a whopping five new restaurants over the next six months. The announcement follows a historically bad year for the restaurant industry, but will no doubt come as a much-needed boost for the F&B sector. “We believe in Hong Kong and are planning to stay and grow here for the long term,” said Pirata Group co-founder and CEO Manuel Palacio. The group’s 2021 opening salvo includes a second location of temakeria and sake bar concept TMK at Wan Chai’s popular Star Street Precinct in February, the opening of its sixth pasta bar, Pici in Kennedy Town in Mary and a new bakery concept, Pane e Latte in Stanley.

piratagroup.hk

is known for providing a cheaper shopping experience for residents and will take away the monopoly from its rival ParknShop.

Spread the love

Partnering with the Cantonese fine jewellery brand Qeelin, The Ritz Carlton is celebrating Valentine’s Day in style. The romantic afternoon tea set brings gourmet Chinese flavours and a fanciful touch. The set features five savouries including a smoked duck breast burger and five desserts including a chilli-chocolate and red bean tart to indulge in.

ritzcarlton.com

Welcome back Wellcome

After its replacement by Fusion on Chan Man Street last year, Wellcome is back with vengeance with a new store on Fuk Man Road. The supermarket

Ditching the meat

Healing diets nutritional consultant, Ally van de Pol shares her thoughts on why plant based is best

2020 was the year when plant-based eating really hit the spotlight and became real. Not sure you can make the shift? Here are my top reasons why plant based is best:

1. It’s best for your overall health. You will feel better, get leaner and be healthier on a plant based diet. You’ll eat more nutrients, more fibre and less chemicals, antibiotics and hormones.

2. It’s best for the environment 14 percent of climate change emissions (more than thewhole transport industry) are attributable to the animal agriculture industry. Most plant crops are grown inorganically and fed to animals which is highly inefficient way to feed the planet. This also has a disastrous effect on soil quality.

3. It’s the kindest way to eat. Factory farms are cruel, inhumane and wasteful and we mostly eat ‘baby’ animals. Do we really want to eat their fear, terror and despair?

4. It’s easy and cheaper.

Eating more beans and vegetables is cheaper than meat, it’s delicious and a lot easier than you think

5. Don’t worry about protein. You’ll get enough protein and lots of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients.

Ally van de Pol is a Healing Diets Coach, contact her at

ally@dragonfitnessandcoaching.com