The sweet smell of food & flowers

Plum fruit tea.

"So my idea was to build a restaurant that offers both fresh, healthy, simple, original food, yet brings refreshment to a busy life. In this regard Shanghai excels; in Beijing these kinds of eateries in office buildings are few and far between."

She quit her job as a product manager for a funds management company, and a restaurant-cum-floristry called Tomacado began to blossom.

Kong's enthusiasm for her venture, and indeed anything to do with food, shines through as she talks about the restaurant's name, a portmanteau of avocado and tomato.

"Tomato and avocado are the perfect match. The monounsaturated fat in avocado makes the cancer-fighting lycopene in tomatoes four times more powerful."

On reading the menu, diners will learn that the two are Tomacado's most used ingredients.

The floral section sells a wide selection of plants and cut flowers, and can customize arrangements. Happily, the floral side of the business does not sit isolated from the dining section as though it is merely an appendage.