Katherine and Bobsy Jureidini in their Bookworm Cafe on Lamma Island, where vegetarian fare is served to the island’s cosmopolitan community

Hong Kong's international lifestyle continues to dish up a raft of opportunities for entrepreneurs, as British husband and wife team Katherine and Bobsy Jureidini have discovered.

The couple have capitalised on the 'alternative living' enjoyed by many on scenic Lamma Island, south-west of Hong Kong, by opening a highly successful vegetarian restaurant. Lamma, the third largest island in the archipelago, noted for its natural attractions and a somewhat Bohemian reputation, proved a perfect location for their Bookworm Cafe.

The couple met on a morning ferry from Yung Shue Wan - the island's most populated village - to Central in 1995. Both enterprising people, they had always promoted green concerns with Mr Jureidini, a graphic and fashion designer, working for Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong before launching his own design company Gaia.
 
"I loved Lamma as soon as I saw it," says Mr Jureidini. "I visited one Saturday after living in Hong Kong for six months, and had checked into a small hotel by the Sunday. Its international community seemed full of interesting and beautiful people.

"There is a real community feeling - one bank, one post office, everyone recognises each other," adds Mrs Jureidini. "Our home is an important lifestyle point for us; it's a detached house with wonderful sea and green views."

The couple started learning yoga with an Indian swami who lived on the island. Both were smitten and Mrs Jureidini decided to learn more on a one-year course in India in 1997.

Cosmopolitan clientele

While she was away Mr Jureidini, with six vegetarian friends, dreamed up the idea of a relaxed cafe, where they could get a decent, meat-free meal. They knew that Lamma Island's cosmopolitan residents could also do with such a place.

Brainstorming began and a site was found - the already fitted out Bookworm Cafe. "It was more bookish when we saw it but we didn't have to change much. In fact, there was no business plan at all," he confesses. "We had a rough initial idea and developed it organically."

Investment was minimal, covering rent and deposit on the premises, staff wages, utility bills and ingredient costs and a computer with Internet access - a community attraction, being the first on the island.
 
The initial plan was that the friends would share management, to allow them to pursue other jobs, but this did not work. Seven became four, as some founders' jobs were more demanding than anticipated.
 
When Ms Jureidini returned, surprised, she duly managed the kitchen for a year. "The idea had come from everyone's hearts rather than heads," she recalls. "Luckily my family were foodies and I'd studied hotel catering at college. Nothing was functioning very well and I quickly implemented an operating system and a larger menu."

This, mixed with community events such as musical performances, talks by writers, therapists, religious and yogic practitioners and art exhibitions has made the Bookworm one of Lamma's most successful restaurants. An overflow open-air dining room was opened in late 1999, and a manager installed to free up the Jureidinis' time. Ms Jureidini now teaches yoga.

And the couple are rooted to Lamma. "To be able to walk to work in 10 minutes and know most of the people you see on the way is quite special," says Ms Jureidini. 

"If there was no Lamma, there would be no Hong Kong for me," adds Mr Jureidini.