New vegetarian restaurant among 18 participants for Guyana Restaurant Week

A new fine dining restaurant that caters for vegetarians is making its debut at this year’s Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW) event.

The 15th season of GRW was launched on Monday night at the Marriott Hotel, in Georgetown, where the Eco-Garden International Vegetarian Restaurant and Tribe Gastronomic Lounge were announced as the new additions to the list of participating restaurants.

This year’s Restaurant Week will commence on November 25 and end on December 4.

The other 16 restaurant options are the Aagman Indian Restaurant, Bistro Café and Bar, Bistro Wine and Champagen Bar, Bottle Restaurant- Cara Lodge, Heliconia Restaurant and Lounge, Java Coffee Bar and Bistro, Jaxx International Grill- Movietowne, Keisha’s Crab Shack, Mango Walk Restaurant and Lounge, New Thriving Chinese Restaurant, OMG! Arawak Steak House, Taco Loco Mexican Restaurant, Terra Mare Restaurant, The Flame Restaurant and Grill, Hibiscus Restaurant and Palm Court.

Dionne Graham, the owner of the Eco-Garden restaurant located at 173 Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, related that the restaurant was launched in October.

And she said she is very excited to showcase her culinary talents.

Graham lived in the United States of America for 23 years before she returned home in 2016 with the intention of bringing her vegetarian lifestyle to show others that vegetarian meals can be just as delicious any other.

“The back story of our restaurant is because I am a vegetarian and I wanted to let the public know it’s not just that you talk and say you’re a vegetarian.

“I wanted to show them that there are so many exciting things that we have here that we can use and create an experience for ourselves that we can enjoy doing so with the things that we have here,” Graham said.

Speaking at the launch, President of Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Harrinand Persaud said this will be a great opportunity for chefs to showcase their culinary skills and for customers to get a taste of the excitement meals offered.

“It’s an opportunity for restaurants to showcase their culinary skills.

“They go out of their way to create the items on the menu and it’s a way in which they get people to come back.”

“It only gets busier and busier so it’s a great event and of course the whole concept of restaurant week is to give a saving to the customers and we do try to maintain that,” he said.

Meanwhile Director of Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Kamrul Baksh said restaurant week creates opportunities for restaurants to promote themselves to both locals and visitors. He added that the GTA will continue its support of the event because of the massive exposure it has given to businesses.

“At the Guyana Tourism Authority, we have been supporting Guyana Restaurant week since the inception and we will continue supporting with our partners to increase the number of restaurants that are participating and to bring to Guyanese and other travelers alike, a very diverse, authentic cuisine,” Baksh said.