Bobsy Blog 2020 No. 17
GOODBYE MANA! POHO & HELLO MANA! SOHO…
This last week just gone has been a truly emotionally raw one for me. What started out as me being present for our last week at MANA! PoHo to meet & greet customers, friends & neighbours and let them know the sad news, ended up with me holding court on the charming & beautiful terrace feeling how beloved and appreciated our MANA! there has been. It took me by surprise really, as I was not expecting this much emotion, love & passion from our customers & regulars whom have been frequenting the charm of this outdoor terrace, with no cars, in one of HK’s oldest hoods. We had been there for exactly 5 years, during which time we created our own unique V-Coffee concept, developed our Burgers, Chips & Dips offerings, as well as our Open Flats that defined MANA! PoHo (Café) for many years and set it apart form the other MANA!’s…
The week instead turned into an emotional roller coaster as I watched with somewhat disbelief that our beautiful terraced community was coming to an end, coupled with thoughts of “well why on Earth are we closing in the first place!! “ & “should we not stay open but offer a much more simple and minimalist MANA! offering instead?” To “Oh maybe it’s not too late to turn things around in spite of all the challenges this small place has brought us…”
To make matters more emotionally raw I met some of my best friends there on the newly found elegant wooden sofa perched on the Yoga Bam Bam platform, and we philosophised over how we should turn things around and make M! PoHo a lot easier to operate with half the over heads etc.. Very poignant & insightful advice indeed and this added to the passionate fuel of this very special week under the Sun in PoHo as a gentle and cool breeze blew through the leafy terrace that was buzzing with so much love & good vibes… Ahhh! A truly memorable one for me.
Alas, we have now closed down our doors and handed back the keys to the landlord, for the time being at least.
And in the mean time, we are opening our much anticipated MANA! SoHo this month very soon, in fact by the time you are reading this we may well have opened our doors softly, softly. With the demolition of the old building housing our original flagship store on Wellington Street, MANA! Central shut down its doors for the last time on Friday March the 27th. Not sure if you have seen the spontaneous IG video that captured that poignant moment in time, if you haven’t it’s well worth viewing to see how life can have a beautiful flow to it, and how beauty can be seen in the saddest moments.
Today we are super proud and excited to be able to open M! SoHo in the heart of our old hood right on the escalator & Staunton Street. Back where I personally left off in 2010 when I pulled out of the legendary Life Café that sat so elegantly in a three storey building at no 10 Shelley Street…(Life eventually closed down in December 2015 to much fanfare and disbelief). I have always loved the culture of the escalator and how it carries such an eclectic mix of HK people up & down everyday…We are excited to bring Plant-Based Eco-Friendly food & drink back to our old haunt and to celebrate a bigger & larger offering of MANA! & its culture. Besides a larger premises with a larger kitchen we have a dedicated floor for hosting events, screenings & live music to celebrate our diverse community and the food revolution we started way back when we opened our first store back in early 2012.
Adieu M! PoHo you served us well… & congratulations M! SoHo may you serve us well…
Until soon…
Bobsy Gaia
