Order of the Day: Dining with a Conscience in SE.A
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Trip End
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Hanoi,
Vietnam
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
here is all about health foods and how they are environmentally or
eco-responsible. Many restaurants today prepare and serve you meals
with a more awareness in improving the world or societies' health and
environment. "Enjoy your meal, but think about what you're doing to
your body and the earth" is the concept of this kind of restaurants.
In this article, the story is about how some of these restaurants in
Southeast Asia are managed with socially- responsible manner. Guess
what they have done. Exotissimo Travel is proud to present, so next
time if you have chance to travel to Vietnam, Siem Reap or Thailand, you may find some time to visit them.
In a region famous for its delectable cuisine, several Southeast Asian
restaurants are now also dishing up opportunities for the local
community with their socially responsible policies and vocational
training programs.
In Siem Reap, Le Jardin des Delices is the
training restaurant of the famous Paul Dubrule Hospitality &
Tourism School and was established to provide young, underprivileged
Cambodians with an opportunity to train in the skills of the hotel,
restaurant and tourism industry.
Delicious Khmer and European fusion cuisine is served on a terrace
fronting a lush exotic garden. But the tastiest aspect of all is that
while you enjoy the savoir faire of the students, you are also
contributing to the sustainability of a vital educational project.
In just five years, the Hanoi based KOTO (Know One, Teach One) has
grown from a small sandwich shop to a 120-seat restaurant and an
internationally accredited hospitality program that is breaking the
cycle of poverty amongst street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.
The young people in the KOTO program study hospitality skills and
English, while gaining practical skills working at the KOTO Restaurant.
Indeed, KOTO boasts a 100 percent success rate in placing its graduates
in their first job in the hospitality industry.
In Thailand, the popular restaurant chain Cabbages and Condoms was
founded by the kingdom's leading philanthropist and former Minister of
Health, Mechai Viravaidya, in an effort to make condoms as common - and
as accepted - as cabbages.
The food is consistently delicious (and 'guaranteed not to cause
pregnancy!') and all proceeds from the restaurants are used to fund the
social programs of the Population and Community Development Association
(PDA), a non-profit organization founded in 1974 by Meechai himself.
Choosing to eat at socially responsible restaurants such as these
can make a big difference to the most vulnerable sectors of the local
community. In a region that traditionally suffers from child
prostitution and exploitative labor, a socially responsible service
industry is now becoming the order of the day.
On your next trip to Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand, why not sample the delicious
fare of these restaurants and support their valuable work? Join the
ten-day Best of Vietnam tour with Exotissimo Vietnam and visit KOTO Restaurant in Hanoi and experience Vietnamese hospitality with Exotissimo Travel
