Our Story
Once upon a time Lucia Eppisser discovered a beautiful jewellery in Ubud / Bali – it was a necklace with the SEED of life symbol. She felt attracted and started to read about the meaning of the symbol. What she discovered was an abundant philosophy behind the amazing circular shape. The idea of creation, growth and development inspired her to write a restaurant concept. SEEDS Restaurant & Lounge was born, the vision to establish a place of natural beauty.
Her husband Felix, a Swiss Michelin Star Chef, liked her ideas and they believed that SEEDS fits best with Yangon where they have worked with some wonderful people in the past. They were thrilled to set up something new which represents the energy of developing Myanmar and allows creative work.
They packed their suitcase again and moved to Yangon, where serious property hunting took place. One day, they discovered a hidden gem directly located at Inya Lake and fell in love with the place.
Luckily some fantastic people crossed their way and together they started to work on the project. The architect Chris Green came on board with his team: Tin Lin Htay committed to be the local project manager and many others assisted and are still assisting to set up this unique restaurant and to turn the private house into a restaurant.
Alongside their work at SEEDS Lucia and Felix never stop to moving. They set up a cooking class at Indawgyi Lake for local restaurant shop keepers in Kachin State and even when electricity was cut, the class did not stop and the fun went on. What a variety of food they created with only products from the local market – and the happy faces made them even happier.
For Lucia and Felix sports are an essential part of their life: they challenged themselves during the Pattaya Trail Marathon and the Kuching Cat city Race to be fit during the set up of SEEDS.
In the mean time Tangram architects developed already amazing drafts and the idea to work with bamboo and glass to underline the contemporary transformation of the building was born.
Lucia’s dream was always to create her own plates. She found at GAYA Ceramics in Ubud / Bali two wonderful people with Michela and Marcello and shared with them all her ideas and the concept. SEEDS will get a unique collection in the world, all carefully handcrafted by people who work for the very big brands in the world like Armani and Bulgari.
She also found two sound bowls which will balance the energy every day in her new restaurant by playing them carefully in the morning. Every day will be a new start with fresh and clean energy.
Lin Lin set up a ceremony with monks from the monastery near the property to bless the compound before we start construction. Five monks joined and we served our first official meal at SEEDS. After we spread holly water, rice and earth all around the place and fixed some leaves on the gate to attract success and positive spirits.
Our garden is lush and green. Lots of lotus flowers grow just in front of our compound. To let them breathe we had to cut the lake grass and remove it. What a hard job to do! Our Myanmar team did not lose the humour and now the scenery looks stunning. We feel like being in pure nature in midst of Yangon city.
It is important to work closely with all associates. Therefore we want to know more. We visited to bamboo factory who is doing the framework for the house and learnt about the process to get a better understanding.
A lot of creative processes are ongoing to make SEEDS as individual as possible.
A passionate designer, Wendy Douglas-Khin’s social enterprise Thazi Limited provides underprivileged individuals an opportunity to learn and earn at the same time. We want our SEEDS team to look and feel good. From the gardeners to the chefs all positions will have a unique crafted uniform, designed to portray the ideals of simplicity and beauty. All material has been carefully sourced by Wendy and her team locally.
Zürich was thrilled: From 23rd November to 4th of december Felix Eppisser presented his spiced up creations at the wonderful pop-up Christmas Restaurant Kiosk in collaboration with Michel Péclard Gastronomie. Barbara Widmer from the world wide renowned Brancaia Winery paired an outstanding wine selection: Merry Christmas !
When a vision turns into reality lots of people contribute. A big resounding THANK YOU to our partners, the workers, architects, project management, suppliers and all the people on board who make this project happen, day by day, brick by brick.
Whilst the Pinkado floor is polished with care and the walls are painted the first pre-opening activities take place at SEEDS.
The whole team was planting a Frangipani wish tree and each and everyone attached a dream or wish for his or her future. We watered the tree in a Burmese traditional way and blessed it to grow fast.
Dear Customer, after only having opened for two and a half years, we received the prestigious Award for World Luxury Restaurants.
We have to thank all the people supporting us, most importantly our customers, without whom we could not do this kind of creative and exiting work. Also a big thank you to our kitchen and service team, they made it happen with our guidance.
During the difficult time of Covid we took the chance to work with our team on skill enhancement and created some new dishes.
Nyan Htet Naing wins the 4th place at the international sommelier competition called "Jeunes Sommelier de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs" in Lyon, France. He was trained by Lucia Eppisser, owner and wife of Felix Eppisser as well as by many friends and winemakers in Europe.
We thank Nyan Htet Naing for his ambitious work and making a mark on the world map for SEEDS and Myanmar. Thanks to the whole SEEDS team for all the support during the past 2 years.