ect baie DESTINATIONS MAURITIUS | WELLNESS HOLIDAYS


Clare Vooght tries out a wellness break in the Indian Ocean at the new Lux* Grand Baie in Mauritius


t travelweekly.co.uk


he dark blue hue of my drink turns a lighter shade of purple as barman Eddy


pours a small bottle of lemon and sugar syrup into it. “You said you wanted something dark, but always after the dark comes the light,” says Eddy. I’d asked for a healthy, non-alcoholic drink that was dark, savoury and smoky, to fit the surroundings: sleek, black- walled and gold-accented Asian fine-dining restaurant Ai Kisu, at the recently opened Lux Grand Baie in Mauritius. And while I’d known butterfly pea – the ingredient responsible for my cocktail’s colour change – was popular in the food and drinks world, I didn’t know about its health benefits. This antioxidant regulates the sugar in the body and wards off diabetes, says Eddy. The cocktail still tastes quite indulgent – a theme for the


whole experience at Ai Kisu, whose USP is a lively open kitchen showing off its Japanese warayaki straw fire cooking, done with the Mauritian twist of using sugar cane leaves instead of straw, served alongside other east Asian dishes including fluffy, carby dim sum. But amid the many indulgences, there’s attention to detail for the wellness-minded guest here too.


HEALTHY CHOICES While you’re free to enjoy a Wagyu steak or a burger whenever you please, healthier choices are also made easy with the hotel’s ‘Keen on Green’ programme, which essentially means 35% of the menus are vegan and vegetarian. “We decided post-Covid to work on a project that emphasised vegan and vegetarian food.


² 16 JUNE 2022 29


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