What does a yogi look like?
If an image comes to mind, perhaps we need to unbox this ancient practice.
Yoga is not an experience limited to those with a certain spirituality, lifestyle, sex, diet, age, job occupation, race, class, or physical ability.
Mindfulness, the essence of yoga, is a joy unique, therapeutic, and truly necessary to the human condition.
Welcome humans, we’re all yogis here.
Food Concept:
The physical & emotional nourishment with an incredible power to resurface old memories and create new ones.
AKA, the good stuff.
All food has a story, and therefore a place in this world. And in life, whether it's balancing a dish's salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami and kokumi* flavours, or balancing protein, fats, and carbohydrates in a meal, it's what makes our experience tasty, wholesome, and healthy. I speak as an omnivore, so my recipes celebrate that fact. However, the restaurant business teaches you that dietary restrictions are alive and well. For that reason I’ve included recipe variations, as one would suggest posture modifications in a yoga class.
*kokumi: the sixth taste "sensation", translated from Japanese as "mouthfeel" or "rich taste".
lovely to meet you
Sophie Gavell is a Korean-American chef from Boston, Massachusetts with degrees in dietetics and global health from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her yoga journey started in 2010 when she sought a cross-training activity to balance out her collegiate national rowing training. Not only did she find ease in her physical recovery, but also that in her mental decompression. After university she graduated from Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she then continued on to working the next 4 years in the London Michelin star restaurant scene. It was the fast-paced, high-stress environment that led her perspective to take a significant shift as she realised the neglect of mental health initiatives in the business.
Seeking a change in environment and reputable yoga teaching programs, she moved in May 2019 to Melbourne, Australia, where she currently resides. Now a certified 200hrYTT Vinyasa and Yin teacher she remains deeply inspired by the Slow Food® movement; it is her goal to bring the same mindfulness in food sourcing to wellness in the hospitality industry.
