We kick-started 2019 with this innovative bowl designed to positively impact mood. We are already all about spreading the positive vibes through vibrant feel-good food and sociable service, but with this unique collab we found a way to take it even further. It hit our serving counters just in time for Blue Monday, claimed to be the most depressing day of the year. And the best bit – £0.25p from the sale of every bowl was donated to Mind mental health charity to support their #blueanyday campaign.

If you’ve not heard of Chotto Matte before, they are the home of Nikkei cuisine in London, which is a natural fusion of Japanese and Peruvian recipes and traditions. Similarly, to Hawaiian cuisine, Nikkei food is all about using high-quality ingredients and is heavily influenced by Japanese flavours. Their own restaurant has a lively atmosphere and a high energy attitude to match ours. In short, they were the perfect partner to help us bring to life our little bowls of happiness.

The incredible dish we came up was an extension of Chotto Matte’s Chromatherapy (or colour therapy) inspired menu and featured a spectrum of high-spirited colours relating to the body’s chakras. The ingredients were carefully chosen for their positive impact on the eater’s mood. We had sea bass ceviche with a bright red jalapeño sauce for a grounding and energizing effect, yuzu and violet mayo to help stimulate intuition and creativity and our deep orange Alphonso mango salsa to aid productivity and optimistic thought. The bowl was finished with miso Padrón peppers, burnt corn salsa and crispy Peruvian corn kernels. 

What you choose to eat can be transformative to your mood on any given day, and we realize the power of this. The aim with this bowl (even on a grey Monday in January) was to at least let your taste buds take you to a very happy place.