Page 31 - Fiji Traveller 2024 Issue 6

By Vittoria Pasca efforts and sacrifices really paid off. Now I feel very confident in
this role, and I can do everything independently, from choosing
Originally from China, Xiao Lian (also known as Lucia) moved the best ingredients to making dumplings or pizza from scratch
to Suva in 2017 and soon after, opened Veggie Restaurant in really quickly.
Flagstaff. She became vegetarian 14 years ago for religious “Even if I’m not the owner,” said Louisa, “I do care about
reasons and since then, she has been very passionate about this place as if I owned it. I’m very proud of the food I prepare
sharing her love for plant-based cuisine. every day and seeing our customers enjoy their meals makes
In the beginning, Xiao was running the restaurant on her own me happy.”
as a small vegetarian eatery serving quick Chinese meals such Xiao considers herself very lucky to have Louisa work in her
as dumplings, buns and vegetables. However, a few months later team, as she’s very talented and reliable: “She has a skill that
she renovated the space and that’s when Veggie Restaurant is very important in a stressful environment like a restaurant
took its current shape, becoming the minimalist and cosy space kitchen; she’s very resilient and always in a good mood despite
it now is. all the pressure we go through during busy days”.
The big change came towards the end of 2018 though, when Xiao and Louisa are now also good friends and enjoy working
Xiao hired a professional chef from China, who specialised in together and relying on each other to run Veggie restaurant.
vegetarian cuisine. Chef Yang Xiao Lu, mostly known as Lucky (or Earlier last year, Lucky surprised them and came to Fiji for a
Lucke), completely changed the menu by adding several dishes short visit to help them expand the menu. “We had no idea and
from a range of cuisines, from Chinese to Western - in particular, one day he just showed up at the restaurant, we almost couldn’t
the Italian dishes he learned while training with an Italian chef. believe it, we were so happy to see him!” Louisa said. “He tried
He included in the new menu many Chinese and Asian classics our food and congratulated us; he was so proud of how good
(like several rice and tofu options, tom yum and tempeh), as well we had become! We only made some small changes to some
as veggie burgers, pasta and pizza, Middle Eastern dishes (such of the dishes to adjust them to our style, but he was very happy
as falafel, burnt carrots and hummus with Egyptian seasoning) to see how well the restaurant was doing even without him”.
and vegan desserts like lemon cheesecake, pistachio ice-cream After spending almost seven years in Suva, Xiao feels
and Chinese sweet rice balls. she has become more Fijian, adjusting to the slow pace of
The innovative menu saw the restaurant’s popularity with both Suva, which is quite different from the big Asian cities she was
vegetarians and omnivores soar. previously living in. “I think it was fate that brought me to Fiji.
The high quality of the food and ingredients have always been Before coming here, I used to live in Thailand, and one day
the pride of the restaurant. That continues to be its hallmark, a good friend of mine had the idea that we should move to
even after chef Lucky returned to China in 2022. The secret to a Fiji and open a restaurant together even though we had never
smooth and successful transition was the dedication of Xiao and been here before. We decided to spend some time in Suva
her talented Fijian chef, Louisa Fehoko. to see if we’d like it.” But the irony was that as soon as they
Louisa initially started to work at the restaurant in early 2020 arrived, her friend had to leave for personal reasons, so in the
as a waitress, occasionally lending a hand in the kitchen as well. end, Xiao stayed and opened the restaurant on her own.
Slowly but surely, she started to work with chef Lucky, learning all “It was a bit frightening in the beginning, but now I’m very
the secrets of vegetarian cuisine, a style of cooking she wasn’t happy I did it. It was great to be able to introduce to Suva a
very familiar with. new style of vegetarian food and I’m very pleased with the
“Before working here, I didn’t know much about plant-based response we received”.
cooking and ingredients like tofu or tempeh, so I had to learn She enjoys her life in Fiji a lot. “Before coming here, I was
everything from scratch. In the beginning it was quite hard; Lucky always keeping myself busy, checking out new cafés or
is very precise and demanding, he would show me how to make restaurants or catching up with friends, but when I came here,
a dish once and then he would ask me to prepare it under his I started to live a more simple life, with fewer distractions, and I
supervision,” she recalls. feel that now I’m more present to myself, and I can enjoy more
She had to learn the basics of vegetarian cuisine: how to the simple things in life.”
prepare the different ingredients and give them the right texture,
how to make all the different sauces and how to choose fresh, Veggie Restaurant
high-quality ingredients. “It wasn’t easy, but now I see that all my

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