Death knell for Life Cafe, where Hong Kong’s organic health food revolution began
Restaurant that’s latest to fall victim to rent squeeze opened by the Mid-Levels escalator soon after Sars outbreak and was first in Hong Kong to serve quinoa and gluten-free food, says founder; for years it was a hangout for the yoga crowd, and a film and music venue too
Vegetarian and vegan restaurant Life Café on Shelley Street is the latest victim of high rents and will close its doors this Saturday after over a decade in business. Its sister locations in Discovery Bay and Wan Chai having already closed, it will be the end of Life Café as a brand and a concept.
For founder Bobsy Gaia, the restaurant was a pioneer in offering quality healthy organic food to people starving for an alternative to fast food or places that didn’t break the bank.
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Although he left Life Café in 2009 to focus on Mana!, which he later opened in Wellington Street, Central, Gaia has fond memories of the Soho restaurant, particularly its humble beginnings.
“We were looking at locations towards the end of [the] Sars] outbreak and the sentiment back then was this desperation for healthy food was so strong,” recalls Gaia. “When we opened, I had a three-storey banner that read, ‘Finally! An organic health café in Hong Kong’ and from day one we had queues. At the time there was nowhere else to eat healthy and organic.”
Life, which later became Life Café, introduced many firsts to Hong Kong, Gaia says, including gluten-free food, quinoa and a salad bar concept.
