"I was cooking since I was 12 years old, alongside my late Father, Mohan Harilela. My family ran restaurants, so I was always sneaking into the kitchens and eating everything I could get my hands on. Since a very young age, I have always had a passion for food, as I was constantly surrounded by it. So I decided to go to Les Roches in Switzerland for some formal education. I have trained in both the Intercontinental and Excelsior hotels here in Hong Kong as a line cook and garde manger. The traditional education was great but I felt something was missing, so in 2004 I decided to learn about healthy whole foods. I embarked on a journey to New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute, where I learnt all about food and health. This was just the beginning of my journey back to health and well-being. I revisited my roots where I learnt more about Integral Yoga by Sri Swami Satchidananda, our family Guru. (A Guru is a remover of darkness, and that’s what’s happening everyday on this journey.)
In 2006, I graduated as an Ayurvedic Nutritional Therapist from The European Institute of Vedic Studies. Recently graduated from Kerela Ayurveda as an Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner. Moving back to Hong Kong several years ago, I opened up Love True Food in the hopes of sharing my knowledge and passion for ‘true food’ to the world. Since then, I have been cooking my heart out, practising and teaching Yoga and sharing the wonderful benefits of the practise. I want to inspire others to do the same, as Yoga heals me everyday. Just as Ayurveda is a healer and can be used to heal the body and mind, Yoga is a healer, healing all the layers that compose a human being."
- Lakshmi Harilela