Organic Life

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Comment by Baiyun Michael on May 10, 2013 at 10:24am

What does "organic" mean? It's quite variable, but to me it means the food is safe to eat and hasn't been diluted and adulterated in order to increase someone's profit margin. Just sell me quality food at a competitive price and I'll pay it!

I recently visited a new restaurant/store in Guangzhou and wanted to share the info. I have no affiliation to or consideration from this restaurant, and I'm only posting my experience in the relevant threads on the forums. I liked VLIFE  and think it deserves some attention. People should give it a try and see what they think about the atmosphere and the food. It's definitely a relaxing place. I visited the restaurant Saturday, May 4, 2013 around 5:30 P. Cheers, Michael.

VLIFE  维生素

广州珠江新城花城大道16号108铺
16 Huacheng Avenue, Zhujiang New Town (Berlin International Apartment #108)
(020) 37266060
Open from 10am - 10pm
http://www.vlifechina.com  (nothing much there at the moment)

VLIFE is easy to find in the heart of  Zhu Jiang New Town 珠江新城, on the south side of Hua Cheng Da Dao 花城大道, a block west of Guangzhou Da Dao Zhong 广州大道中. The entrance looks like a fashionable, two-story delicatessen with a front window lit by thin, blue and green neon, the colors suggesting the relationship of the food within to a healthy lifestyle. Inside is a small grocery leading to the café-style front counter beside a full view of the kitchen and its prep area.

One of the most engaging aspects of this restaurant is that within a relatively small space they have created at least five distinctive moods by placement of a variety of lighting, furniture, and pleasant decorations. Sedate outdoor dining is in the back, which is in contrast to the luminous space upstairs, where they've arranged casual sofa seating near bookcases that are notable for a small selection of books in both Chinese and English, including some nice pop-ups for the kiddies. Between these bright and the somber dining areas are three pleasing arrangements of tables and chairs.

The variety of good moods inside does give one a bit of confidence that they also pay as much attention to the quality of their ingredients and cooking methods, and the fact that they haven't overdone things in spite of the need for a chair-to-floor-space ratio sufficient to pay the rent is a welcome change from just about every other restaurant, shop or park I've seen in this crowded city. To top it off, their music plays softly in the background at just the right volume level: loud enough to hear, but not so much to interfere with gentle conversation. Wi-Fi is available.

The staff are all local people who had no problem with English, happily answering a few questions about their store, menu, and the ingredients in a few of their drinks and salads. They made every effort to welcome me and the service was excellent, although there weren't many customers inside at 5:30 PM on a Saturday.

The menu is very well organized and printed in both Chinese Hanzi and standard English. There are no bizarre translations of the grandmother's triumphant glazed toads in the redness sauce, nor alas, any funny Chinglishisms to ponder and decrypt while waiting for your food to arrive. There are salads, pasta, rice, sushi, sandwiches, soups, meats, snacks (appetizers), coffee, tea, fresh juices, and a variety of alcoholic drinks.

I had a couple of small salads at 18 and 22元 each, and a ginger tea for 22元, which is the same price as their espresso. Cappuccino goes for 32元and the meat dishes are around 60 - 140 元. Overall, I thought the prices were just what you'd expect for quality ingredients and a prominent location in Zhu Jiang New Town, and on my next visit I hope to take some friends and try a few of the main dishes. Someone from the restaurant told me by message on GZ Stuff that their steak is organic grass-fed beef imported from the USA and a 350g portion costs 138元.

Comment by Baiyun Michael on May 10, 2013 at 10:24am

The grocery store carries a small number of foods, drinks, and cleaning products, such as rice and other grains, pasta sauces, sugar, oatmeal, tea, grape wines and cream. I made some notes about the products that interest me the most and I liked both of the vinegars I bought. Here's a list of just a few of the products in the store that caught my eye.

New Zealand Pure Milk, full cream, UHT 1 liter carton, 22元. http://www.meadowfresh.co.nz/
I would compare this to a similar product from Anchor out of Australia that usually goes for 45-50元. It's my understanding that in New Zealand it's illegal to use growth hormones in cows, and I also assume that all ruminants there are fed only grass, not grains, but I can't find anything on the Meadow Fresh web site to confirm this.

Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Bran hot cereal (USDA organic), 16 oz. (454 g) for 49元.
http://www.arrowheadmills.com/product/oat-bran-hot-cereal

Arrowhead Mills Organic Instant Oatmeal hot cereal with flax (USDA organic), 16 oz. (454 g) for 55元.  http://www.arrowheadmills.com/product/organic-instant-oatmeal-hot-c...

Hain Organic Brown Sugar (USDA organic), 24 oz. (680 g) for 71元. http://www.hainpurefoods.com/products/product.php?prod_id=335&c...

Walnut Acres tomato sauce, two varieties. 25.5 oz (754 ml) bottle for 59元.
http://www.walnutacres.com/product_view.php?id=10&cat=sauce
http://www.walnutacres.com/pr_attach/16-WA_SauceGroup.jpg

La Rambla Apple Cider Vinegar imported from Spain. 8.5 oz (250 ml) for 32元.
http://www.azeitelarambla.com.br/haziendalaramblacom/home_ingles.html

La Rambla Modena Balsamic Vinegar imported from Spain. 8.5 oz (250 ml) for 49元.

Ecover  cleaning products and soaps. http://www.ecover.com/CN/EN/index.aspx

Comment by Baiyun Michael on May 1, 2013 at 12:21am

Hello Tao, I'm concerned about food safety and also looking for true organic food in Guangzhou. Reading your thread, I did find your address in Panyu, but I live in Baiyun and it's a long way to go without knowing what you have.

I tried to use a web translator for your sina blog, hoping to get information about your store, but I couldn't find anything useful there. Is there an URL that will give me some information about what you sell and possibly some help in finding your store? Would love to have more information about you.

Thanks, "Joe"

Comment by Tao on April 12, 2013 at 12:59pm

Blooming flowers, a wonderful teacher, friendly people, the best ingredients, a warm and encouraging atmosphere, and fresh from the oven - homemade DIY bakery with its smell and taste, wake up and exciting your senses ...

This is how you can Add flavour to Life. :-)

Comment by Tao on January 13, 2013 at 9:33am

"A bright red shirt in a field of gray. Cargo pants in the land of business casual. Hunched over an iBook in the corner, surrounded by people with desks. She stood out like a stereotype."

Aaron Swartz found himself surrounded by a world of gray, "Some days it seemed like all there was was gray. An overcast sky, a broken bus, a freeway under construction, an edifice of concrete and steel. That office was dullening, full of gray pillars and florescent lighting, drones tapping at computers and talking about synergizing, forced conversations with the pleasant, strained tone of someone who knows they will have to live with these people."

But finding his love helped change that.

Hold our love dear to our heart, and it will give strength.

Comment by Tao on December 12, 2012 at 7:56pm

The dust of frustration settled down, we are moving on.

Comment by Tao on November 27, 2012 at 9:37pm

Yeah I'm tired of being polite and low key - Or maybe it's just high time to SCREAM, to wake up some conscience! Eat up our pride, and self-importance! We think we know the truth, that we know the good people, the trust worthy places. Think again!

Comment by Tao on November 27, 2012 at 9:30pm

I'm freaking mad at these people - don't they have some mind left? And some hearts?!

Comment by Tao on November 27, 2012 at 9:26pm

An apple orchard that has been supplying several famous organic stores in this town has has been faking their organic certification, a supposedly local organic coop uses chemical fertilizers, a local farm from a charity for the mentally challenged uses chemical pesticides and yet promote their produce as natural, an organic store sells imported prunes from the black market that has chemical preservatives all written in English, another organic store sells domestic products that violate the new organic labeling law...

Why the hell is everything adulterated in this place - even truth?! It's such a horrible yet miserable and pathetic reality. Now even I cannot tell the real from the fake, friends from foes, the good from the bad!

Comment by Tao on November 2, 2012 at 12:47pm

Our recently resourced wild apples from Yunnan Province - ridiculously ugly, yet surprisingly rich in a sour sweet flavor. We just couldn't help laughing when we first saw them so full of spots and so different in sizes.

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