January 1999 Take a Break!With tranquillity, uniqueness and cleanliness, the Deaf Cafeteria and the Bookworm Cafe are ideal places for those who want to escape from the daily mundane.
But the cafe is especially characterized by its rural atmosphere. "The cafe is composed of three farmsteads, previously used for storing grains and crops," said Mr. Mok Wai Lam, the manager of the cafe. Customers can have their meals outdoors if they want to get closer to nature. They can also explore the custoshell house, poultry house, gardens of Chinese herbs and bird-watching spots around the cafe. Customers who are surrounded by mountain chains will feel away from pollution and traffic jams. Miss Janet Chin, a 26-year-old clerk who was visiting the cafe with her boyfriend, said, "Hong Kong needs a 'green belt' such as this [the cafe] to preserve the natural landscape and to let us take a break."
According to Miss Katherine Francis, one of the shareholders who was previously a Yoga teacher, the cafe was to provide healthy and nutritious vegetarian food and let her spread her own 'healthy-life philosophy'. She also wants to show that with creativity, eating healthily can be enjoyable and fun. For example, eating burgers made of beancurds! Said Miss Francis: "Meat-eaters seldom visit vegetarian restaurants as they have a limited understanding of vegetarian diet. "They think it's boring but they should be more open to something different. "Raw food is very good since it's purer, while a lot of enzymes and minerals are killed in the cooking process." Along with this 'eat-healthily' idea, the cafe menus highlight certain health facts and general guidelines for a healthy diet. Miss Francis treats her customers as friends and welcomes suggestions on what recipes to be put on the 'What's special?' board. At the same time, different kinds of books and magazines relating to religion, design and spirituality are provided. "These books are to enlighten people. The customers can browse through and enjoy them here, and of course, they're welcome to buy them," said Miss Francis. On some occasions, videos and movies are shown in the cafe. Some are documentary and some are about current issues to wake people up about what is going on around them. Also, the cafe is a venue for unplugged jamming sessions. A wide variety of music ranging from classical to African is selected. Mr. Gary Tsang, a 28-year-old teacher said, "It's an ideal place to arouse my awareness to health. Also, it's a peaceful setting for me to enjoy my holiday."
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The Deaf Cafeteria was originally opened to provide job opportunities
and training for the deaf and to let the public have a deeper understanding of the disabled.
There is another cafe on Lamma Island that was set up for those who
want to have a break from city life -- the Bookworm Cafe that offers mainly vegetarian food.