Who is Wild & the Moon?

There are projects in life that are meant to be successful: you might say the good idea at the right time, the perfect marketing mix, the most desirable, upbeat image…yes, that could be it but, to me, there are the people behind the project that are meant to make it shine, because when you actually meet them, you can see that they shine from within: this is Emma Sawko, founder of the famous Wild & the Moon in Paris.

I was so happy to have met her for the first time before Christmas last year: Emma is one of the nicest, smartest women that I know.

She is open and kind to anybody.

Besides I found her very inspirational and this is why I asked to interview her: our life stories, struggles and achievements of any kind are precious because they can inspire others, and maybe this interview can happen to be the right one for you, at the right time; it was definitely for me 😉

Chiara: How would you describe your way of eating and relationship to food?

Emma: As I often like to say, I am an Epicurean, I like to eat everything but it has to be of the best quality and organic.

I am very demanding on quality.

I respect all people’s choices in food, I don’t want to be 100% on one diet or the other.

When I created Wild & The Moon, I thought of a place where you could eat great tasting food that is also good for you and for our planet.

I wanted to show that eating organic wasn’t tasteless but that it could be a pleasure, a real one!

I chose to propose vegan and gluten free foods as I find for example that wheat has been too much processed in the last 50 years and it is not longer good. Same for the meat or the fish: the way they raise them is not respectful of both the animals and our planet.

I am very concerned about our future, it is the future of our kids and I tell myself that it is worth fighting for it.

At Wild & the Moon, I propose food that is plant-based and 100% organic: we are very focused on plants and the benefits they can bring us: you can see, for example, that all of our juices recipes are concocted to boost our energy and daily wellbeing. We study them carefully before proposing to our clients.

Besides I know exactly where the food we source comes from, and all of our bottles, papers, and dishes are recyclable.

Very soon we will have bottles that are 100% biodegradable.

My objective is to have one day a restaurant that is zero waste!

Chiara: What does it mean the name Wild & The Moon? I find it very evocative….

Emma: Yes, it is exactly that, it’s poetic, it speaks more about a lifestyle than a product and this is what I wanted. When I started to think of it, I didn’t want to relate it exclusively to food like …Juice something… I wanted that it could stand for a way of living, eating, behaving…one day maybe we will have a Wild & the Moon hotel!

Then if I think of it more rationally, Wild can stand for the Nature and Moon about the different phases in Nature and in Life.

Once I was telling this to one of my friends and she reacted by saying…But I thought that Wild was you and Moon your husband! So maybe there is that too in the name.

Chiara: You are a successful entrepreneur, you created the famous concept 102 in Dubai first and Wild & the Moon after, what piece of advice would you give to someone who is starting a business?

Emma: You know, when I first moved from New York to Dubai, it was a bit like a shock to me: in New York, I practiced sport all day, I used to go to Juices Bar, eat healthy and in Dubai, I could only find…junk food! This is why, when I created 102, I decided to propose a restaurant that was organic, healthy-oriented and delicious.

That was a real challenge as in the desert it is not easy to find organic food that grows nearby…Plus all the people around me kept telling me that the idea was crazy, that I should have sodas or croissants on the menu otherwise nobody would ever come…. It was a hard time for me but I believed in myself and in my dream!

Today my restaurant has been awarded as one of the best restaurants in Dubai, we keep having more and more customers and in a month, I have just openend the second Wild & The Moon in Dubai and in June it will be New York, a city that I love. I couldn’t be any happier! So, to answer to your question, I would say: Believe in yourself and in your dream!

Chiara: As I do Food Tours in Paris, which places would you recommend a tourist to visit?

Emma: The Bridge called “passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir” in front of the Bibliothèque François Mitterand: it looks a little bit like Brooklyn and it reminds me of my dear New York City. Then the Jardin des Tuileries. I have the chance to live nearby and I do jogging there every morning. I would also suggest a walk on the quai de Seine, I always find it so beautiful!

Copyright Emma’s portrait: Cyrille George Jerusalmi