With the recent opening of Melody’s Family Lounge Restaurant and Bar at 14 Pitt Street, New Amsterdam, Berbicians can look forward to healthy eating out, according to the proprietor, herbalist/nutritionist, Dr Conrad Matthew.

The restaurant provides mostly fat free foods that are prepared with olive and canola oil, as well as smoothies and other health drinks at its nutrition bar.
It caters for health-conscious customers, including persons who suffer from diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses.

Dr Conrad Matthew posing near his nutrition bar.

In a recent interview at the eating place, he told this newspaper that his reason for opening such a business was to “introduce Berbicians to healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.”

Matthew who also operates herbal clinics – the First Option Herbal and Nutrition Centre (FOHNC) at Sigma Lab in NA, in Georgetown and the Caribbean noted that there was a need for such an eatery in Berbice.

So when the former Melody’s Fast Food was up for rental he got the opportunity to change that, noting that the response so far has been overwhelming as there seems to be “a craving for healthy foods.”

Matthew also hosts television programmes in Berbice, highlighting the benefits of eating right and using mostly natural ingredients.
He said that unlike other restaurants Melody’s did not serve “brought-forward food (leftovers) that can cause diseases.”
He also remarked that “the key thing about the restaurant is the nutrition bar.

We have a wide range of nutritious shakes and boosters for men and women such as the ‘Kama Sutra’ or the love potion, the ‘Energy Bee’ which is a rejuvenator and the ‘Blast Off.’”

Further he said “healthy drinks also come in the form of diabetic, cholesterol and hypertension smoothies which include the ‘Cooler’, ‘Skin Glow’ and ‘Bright Eyes’.”
According to him the extracts for the smoothies are all natural and organic, ranging from royal jelly, B complex, Ginseng, Yohimbe, horny goat weed extracts as well as lecithin and granules.

He noted that “all in all they [beverages] work in creating a total well-being for any age, race or sex when used effectively.”
Matthew who gained his experience as a nutritionist when he practiced abroad with the General Nutrition Centre said he was “bringing the same kind of living and lifestyle to Guyanese.”

Founder/owner of the FOHNC, he said his clinics in the Caribbean include outlets in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and in St Lucia and Antigua.