How Grassroots Pantry ‘blossomed’ into Nectar fine-dining vegan restaurant in Hong Kong
- Nectar, in Sheung Wan, is the next step in Peggy Chan’s plant-based culinary evolution after closing casual vegan eatery Grassroots Pantry in July
- In the space formerly occupied by Grassroots Pantry, the new concept is the first high-end vegan restaurant in Hong Kong
Even on a busy day, revenue was down 30 to 35 per cent compared with similar days in 2018. “And then you have manpower and labour costs that have increased 30 per cent to 40 per cent,” she says. “With a business that runs on 2 per cent to 5 per cent maximum profit margin, we [didn’t] have much room to move.”
It was, Chan says, “a live-or-die situation”.
Chan decided she was done with casual dining – it was time to close the restaurant and replace it with a new concept, Nectar.
For Chan, the next step in her evolution was organic: in 2012 she planted a seed with Grassroots Pantry; opening the restaurant in a small space in Sai Ying Pun, in Western district on Hong Kong Island. As it grew in popularity, Grassroots Pantry moved toa bigger space on Hollywood Road in 2015.
