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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
As we all know eating good healthy food is a horrendous pain in the hole. We all know that the body runs better on strawberries and green beans than it does on pints of Bulmers and Marlboro lights but the struggle to stay on the right side of the fence when it comes to your health seems endless. The biggest battle comes at the weekend. 10 pints and a ride in Whelans or a weekend with massive FOMO walking the hills of Wicklow and watching shit TV? Luckily there is a 3rd way that will leave you feeling amazing...
The Happy Pear is technically in Wicklow nestled in the heart of the lovely Greystones Village but seeing that it is only on the far side of Bray and I didn't spot any "You are now entering Wicklow" signs I'm going to claim it as part of Dublin. The alternative was to set up a "Lovin Wicklow" but I think our readership will be grand without the few additional sheep shaggers and tree huggers that would attract.
People have been banging on about the Happy Pear to me for the last couple of years. I keep vowing to go on a Saturday morning but invariably roll out of bed looking for a bottle of Lucozade and a fry up promising myself that "Monday will be the new health buzz". Greystones seems like an awful long way to go to get a bit of grub but in this case it is absolutely 100% worth it. Unfortunately for Dubliners it is more of a weekend destination and you could see the smug look on the local's faces thinking to themselves "ha we have the whole place to ourselves Monday-Friday so fuck you!!".
Inside it is half coffee shop, half fruit and veg market, smoothie bar, restaurant and part health food shop. What sets the place apart though are the twins, David and Stephen Flynn who run the place. You'll never meet two healthier, good looking fitter bastards. Their energy is infectious and the whole place runs on their energy. Staff aren't just happy but clearly have wheatgrass, kale and goji berries injected into their arms via a drip before work starts. You simply can't leave here in a bad mood and there should be a Happy Pear on every corner in the country.
There is tons of food to choose from and I went for a salad with pasta bake. Awesome. Couldn't even tell you what was in it but as you can see from the photo below it's all the good healthy stuff. This is one of those places where you have no problem being a veggie for the day. Just for a second you actually feel that light feeling you get after not eating meat in a meal and think "Fuck it I'm done with meat".
Most of the produce in here is organic and loads of it is grown on a local farm. David told us about 300 cherry trees about to blossom as he constantly pushed more fruits into our hands. When I refused chocolate for dessert feeling healthy they insisted. The "desserts" were all as healthy as you get. A little chocolate over pure coconut. A recreation of a twix with fresh almonds. Beautiful, healthy and light.
I was totally buzzed leaving the place and left with a huge bag of fresh fruit and smoothies under my arm. Dubliners need to make a day out of this experience getting out for a huge walk in the Wicklow hills and then popping down here. This is Avoca before they hit the mainstream and I've no doubt the lads will grow far and wide. Their produce is already in a handful of shops around the capital. Skip the booze this weekend and get down here for something different. Healthy food and a super happy atmosphere. Loved it.
