Van Gogh is Bipolar: The Restaurant for All Your Moods
Located in a popular food hub in Quezon City, Van Gogh is Bipolar offers a unique menu designed “scientifically and nutritionally to activate specific neurotransmitters in the brain to make you happy and calm.”
The restaurant experience
Upon arriving, you will have to take off your footwear. A “life server” will greet you as you enter the restaurant, and you will be asked to choose a hat to wear. Tea is prepared to match your mood, and you can write your “deepest, darkest secret” on one of the walls.
When ordering, you will be asked to tick a box that reflects the mood you want to achieve. From there, the kitchen will come up with dishes that can help you reach that goal.
The food served in this place are all scientifically and nutritionally designed to stimulate certain neurotransmitters in the brain. You can certainly expect a unique experience here.
The story behind it
The restaurant is a brainchild of Jetro Rafael who has a mental condition himself. He is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or manic depression, which can make a person’s mood swing from one extreme to the other.
For Rafael, Van Gogh is Bipolar has become his therapy. Before starting the restaurant, he said that he was on the brink of committing suicide. He felt hopeless and pessimistic, and he didn’t like being with people.
Now, the restaurant serves as a “sacred space” where people can feel “accepted, celebrated, and unconditionally loved.”
“The space serves as a safe haven for the community — for people who are lost or are abandoned,” said Rafael during an interview with BBC.
Every day, Rafael opens his restaurant to the community. Street kids can get their hot meals whenever they want, and a blind beggar approached by Rafael plays as the in-house musician. One of the waiting staff has a mental condition too.
When asked how different life has been ever since Van Gogh is Bipolar, Rafael answers, “life is more simple now, and that’s a big change.”
