There is a little gem hidden in a small street in the middle of the ex-French concession in Shanghai. It is, for me, a healing place – very simple – and I try to go there as often as my busy schedule allows. It is a vegetarian restaurant called AnnaMaya (second picture), on Taojiang Road.
The owner, Kazu Koikeda, is a very charming and welcoming young woman, and the food she serves is simply delicious. I like it so much that I occasionally have business meetings in the restaurant; I bring my more open-minded clients, who most of the time are totally taken by the place and the food.
In such a rapidly growing megacity, it is all too easy to become disturbed or unbalanced in one’s daily life. Good, healthy food is an important antidote to this. When I lived in London, between 1996 and 2002, I used to buy a lot of organic products, mostly due to the fact that I wanted my two young children, Jules and Ines, to eat good, quality food. So quite naturally, when we decided to move in 2006, I started to look for organic products.
I was very disappointed. I could never find much choice, and was even led occasionally to wonder if the few organic products I did find weren’t in reality “fake” organic. Some probably were. But I believe very strongly that there is a big potential market for good organic restaurants here. Once the Chinese realise the benefits of healthy and organically grown food, they will be prepared to spend substantial sums to have it. For the moment, however, places like AnnaMaya are rare and precious.
Kazu, the owner, subscribes strongly to a belief system based on the idea that true healing comes only from the inner self, and stabilises itself only in unconditional love. And if we want to make healing complete, this requires the comprehensive approach. AnnaMaya has three commitments, supported by three principles.
They are: balance – between body, mind and soul; minimalism –eat sparingly, and only good food; and co-existence with the planets. So AnnaMaya serves vegan, macrobiotic food, always prepared, as Kazu told me, with love and the finest natural organic ingredients. And I am truly getting hooked on it – even if I haven’t quite achieved full commitment to her life philosophy…
