Bunchie and Wife Launch Vivimara on Anegada
Lawrence “Bunchie” Wheatley and his wife, Nia M. Douglas-Wheatley, have opened Vivimara, a home-based Asian-inspired eatery and café on Anegada offering sushi, bao, dumplings and canned specialty drinks. The couple launched during Anegada Lobster Fest 2025, sold out their first weekend, and now provide island-wide delivery and online ordering while planning a permanent location.
Lawrence “Bunchie” Wheatley and his wife, Nia M. Douglas-Wheatley, have launched Vivimara, a new Asian-inspired food and drink venture operating from their home on Anegada. In an interview with VINO on December 11, 2025, Lawrence said the business combines his family’s restaurant background with the couple’s shared love of sushi and coffee-based drinks.
Vivimara’s menu includes sushi rolls, sashimi nigiri, onigiri, bao buns and dumplings, alongside cocktails and coffee-style beverages such as lattes, matcha drinks and milkshakes. Lawrence also cans all of the business’s ready-to-serve drinks using a self-developed method he says is unique in the BVI; the branded cans have proved popular with customers.
The Wheatleys moved back to Anegada from Tortola seeking a “softer life” to raise their two children in a less congested environment. Lawrence—who comes from a family of restaurateurs and hoteliers—had planned to open a restaurant in a promised space, but a late change of plans by the property owner delayed those plans.
Rather than give up, the couple spent two years training, obtaining licences and saving for equipment before launching. Vivimara opened to the public during the recent Anegada Lobster Fest 2025, where the Wheatleys reported selling out of food and drinks during the festival weekend.
They currently operate from home, offering free delivery to schools and a flat $3 delivery fee elsewhere on the island. Lawrence said students are among their biggest customers and that Vivimara is currently the only Anegada eatery offering online ordering, filling a local gap for café-style beverages and late-afternoon snacks.
The couple thanked mentors and collaborators on the island, including The Sushi Bar for guidance, Trade Winds Mexican Bar and Grill for supplying real tamarind and gooseberries, and Robert Swain Jr. of On the Rox for co-creating Vivimara’s signature cocktail, Island Hub. Nia handles marketing, branding and social media, while Lawrence prepares the food and cans the drinks.
Looking ahead, the Wheatleys plan limited Christmas flavours—such as gingerbread milkshakes and a sorrel cocktail—and hope to secure a physical premises where they can hire staff and contribute to local employment. Lawrence’s advice to other entrepreneurs: tackle one problem at a time and stay persistent.
For Anegada residents and visitors, Vivimara brings a different dining option to the island and a taste of café culture without the trip to Tortola.
Primary source: VINO