Tanya Maher is living proof of the amazing power of vegetables. Following a near-fatal car crash at the age of 14, Tanya was left with a broken spine and a badly damaged pancreas. Although doctors recommended that the organ be removed, her parents instead chose to let mother nature do her healing work, powered by peppermint tea with honey and raw vegetable juice – the only two things that her body didn’t reject. Later, after her recovery and a university degree, Tanya began looking into raw food in holistic healing, and decided to put her experience to use as a wellness coach and founder of the Better Raw brand.
Tanya’s Café in MyHotel Chelsea, London, marks a first move into bricks and mortar. It’s a raw food restaurant by day and a superfood cocktail bar when the sun goes down, with a menu that includes raw versions of a number of crowd-pleasing classics (burgers, lasagne, and surprisingly appealing desserts) and even bigger crowd-pleasing drinks – there’s ethically-sourced, organic alcohol in those cold-pressed juice cocktails. As you’d expect from Tanya’s dietary philosophy, her café interior is full of natural materials, with the highlight being a counter pieced together from a number of salvaged vintage units.
