Inua Life Store – a new concept health store in Sliema

Veggy Malta visited Inua Life store in Sliema, a new concept (health) shop by Chef Dennis Ekisola and Olivia Bunny which opened in December 2018. I was shown around by Chef Dennis who explained that the concept behind the shop is to work and collaborate with artisan producer from around the world and bring them to our island. It’s nice to see that a German from Munich (Dennis) and an Australian from Perth (Olivia) have chosen to open their shop in Malta!

Chef Dennis showed me some of the brands they carry at Inua Life Store. Starting from breakfast there is Abbot Kinney’s which are a range of organic vegan yogurt alternatives (yepp vegan friendly) and Grod which is a range of organic porridge. I tried the natural (no sugar) yogurt with some raw granola (gluten free and organic).

The Japanese range

They have a range of hand made artisan Japanese products from plum paste to plum vinegar. You can find kombu dashi (a Japanese stock used in many Japanese dishes made primarily from kelp) which is an excellent vegetarian and vegan condiment. There also are umeboshi pickled salt plums.

Chef Dennis was proud to show his premium soy sauce which was aged 3 years. Alternatively they also have a smoked soy sauce. I also particularly liked the black sesame paste (which is an alternative to tahini). And although not Japanese, (actually from Amsterdam), one should also mention the range of Cultcha Kombucha teas.

Along with the Japanese range, there are many other brands and products to see inside the shop with more new products planned for 2019.

Tasting

Chef Dennis makes cooking look easy. As a first plate I tried some cut organic (yellow) beetroot plus some white miso, sesame oil and sesame seeds on top. Simple to make but a delight to eat. After that he prepared a plate of chickpeas with the the black sesame paste and added some in-store grown microbeans on the side.

If you are interested Chef Dennis does cooking sessions for small groups in the store itself.

Finding the shop

As I mentioned in the beginning Inua Life Store is in Sliema. Finding it is quite easy. It is at the bottom the corner of Gorg Borg Olivier street (the road of Capua hospital). Google maps link here (though the shop façade is different). They have a Facebook page and also a website.