Lekker Eats is finessed healthy food that will floor carnivores, make herbivores even happier, and give omnivores a piece of paradise.

Walk through the door, pass the synthetic sunflowers draped on trellises, and get ready to be blasted with healthy and happening flavors. Folks feel – before eating a single morsel – there is something exceptional, unexpected, and revolutionary about this fabulous space with a funky name.

The flavors founded by Jordan Lazarus, the executive chef, and owner, hit people on the noggins and birth an epiphany – healthy is righteously riveting to their palates.

Aww yes. Lekker Eats in Myrtle Beach is top-tier and terrific for folks wanting to eat well and feel good without guilt. And its name – Lekker, a versatile South African word that means “yummy” here – earns the moniker in meals that mouths proclaim are ambrosian.

“I like everything about Lekker Eats – the people, the food, and the uniqueness,’’ said Christine Casella, who works in a law firm in the same building as Lekker Eats. “It has a twist to it. It's not our average joint.”

Casella preached the true grub gospel. Nothing is normal about Lazarus’s view of victuals.

Marathon Bites are salubrious SNICKERS. Pumpkin Pie Chia Cheesecakes appear naughty, but they are not. Chocolate chip expresso muffins, key lime cheesecake cups, and banana cinnamon swirl muffins are among the gluten-free, vegan dessert offerings.

Food is her bold statement to the world that says yummy for tummies are in forkfuls of finessed ingredients orchestrated by a lady who took control of her health and made phenomenal food that benefits bodies.

‘’Jordan is doing good with creative ingredients,’’ said Tracey Skidmore, who brings her cooler to stock up on ready-to-go items. “Lekker Eats has thoughtfully created vegan and gluten-free menus, and it’s not just salads.”

Yacht Life and Learning

Lazarus’s smile is so big someone could count 32 teeth if she smiled and giggled long enough.

She is giggling now.

The first lady of Lekker Eats has plenty about which to be cheerful.

She has a loving family. Her dedicated staff gloats about her. Then, there’s her handsome fiancè – Joe Heyd, the man who blushes at the mention of her name and gabs graciously about her gifts.

“Jordan is hard working and passionate,’’ Heyd said. “She is intentional with the menus she puts together. She is amazing.”

Before her, the healthy food he had tasted was healthy. There was no flavor to savor. Blandness was boss, and he bailed.

Her knack for infusing flavor into the healthiest foods without making them fatty and unfit for the body proves the purest nourishment could be naughtily delicious. That's why Heyd came back to the healthy side.

“She presents food in a way that highlights the food,’’ he said. “You can hide food under so many things, but she lets the food shine.”

Pizza goes to a new plateau when Lazarus is its dough dealer.

“We make our pizza dough at home,’’ Lazarus said while sitting in her office at Lekker, which smells like Thanksgiving Day and Christmas combined in one sniff.  “It’s this one pizza I have to tell you about that is marvelous.”

This is when her storytelling starts serious salivating sessions.

Her homemade, sourdough pizza base is graced with red sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, bananas (yes, you read that correctly), red onions, and pancetta. Then, it’s baked. Once out of the oven, she drizzles it with honey and chili oil.

She guarantees to transform you – and you are not Optimus Prime.

Heyd experiences her culinary genius whenever he wants. Almost everybody else must visit her at 3751 Robert M. Grissom Parkway Ste. 101, where her kingdom of food that is kind to the body reigns.

On an unusually toasty October day, its warmth is only outmatched by Lazarus’s energy.

She is a cheetah – fast, efficient, and a beautiful creature to watch.

At the moment, she is with an employee instructing them on how to prepare a Coffee Bay bowl, a smoothie bowl named after the town in South Africa. It is where Lazarus attended the South African Chefs Academy and obtained her Diploma in Culinary Arts and Patisserie in December 2018.

Look again.  She’s back in her office ordering a slicer online. Minutes later, she’s off once more – this time showing an employee how to make her vegan banana muffins.

The College of Charleston graduate earned her degree in arts management with a double minor in studio art and theatre.

“I was taking classes I enjoyed, and then when it came time for graduation, I graduated from college, sold my car, and bought a one-way ticket to Florida,’’ Lazarus said. “I joined yachting, and I have never used my college degree. Sorry, Mom and Dad.”

Her then 22-year-old self was oblivious to what to do with her life. As her friends picked places to live to pursue their careers, she realized she wanted to see the world before deciding where to plant the seeds and root her life.

After a friend told her about yachting, she journeyed to Florida and began living the yacht life. She was a stewardess and deckhand. Eventually, she started working closely with the chefs.

“They were cooking for millionaires and billionaires,’’ Lazarus said. “So, I was getting an inside view of a level of food I had never seen before.”

Eating – she loved. She learned by observing chefs. During her voyages, she assessed an array of cuisines and infused much of what she saw into her mind.

Greece, the Caribbean, New Zealand, Fiji, and Italy were among the 28 countries that saw her face. The soul soared in South Africa.

“It's God’s land,’’ said Lazarus, with sparkling eyes. “It’s just beautiful. It’s untouched.”

The country also riveted her with its comestible gifts.

“Everything food is elevated,’’ she said. “Everything is special. You have all these eclectic flavors.”

As a spectator and worker in a lush landscape overwhelmed with culinary wonder, she noticed a defining difference that cemented in her spirit.

“At big restaurants in America, it’s about getting as many people fed in a day and turning tables,’’ Lazarus said. “In South Africa, time and attention was spent on every single plate that went out. Chefs were able to show their expertise. It was cool to work under so many chefs because they had different styles.”

She became the consummate student obtaining knowledge of cooking, plating, and service techniques.

Then, September 6, 2016, changed her life. Diabetes, Type One, came into her life.

Pressure pushed in.

“I was eating food that was made by another chef, and it was really hard for me to manage my blood sugar,’’ she said. “So, I was working and stressing about my diabetes.”

At that point, Lazarus decided she needed to rule her gourmand galaxy.

When South Africa saw her face again, she earned her culinary diploma.

So, Mark and Helen Lazarus have nothing to apologize for concerning this daughter of theirs.

South Africa gave her culinary gold, and she brought those revelatory tastes to Myrtle Beach.

Her yacht life yielded the Grand Strand gourmet gifts unique and majestic.

“The food here tastes good and feels good,’’ said Meghan Dalgauer, a server at Lekker Eats. “You know it’s healthy, and it’s coming from a place with a lot of TLC.”

The House the Happy Chef Built

Staff members — many of whom are Coastal Carolina University students — are cheerful and take orders from behind a tiled counter made to resemble honeycombs and are colored a sunny mellow yellow.

They are attentive and friendly.   Each kind of clones of Jordan in their own way.

One of those employees is Skylar Neeves, a barista who has been with Lazarus since Little Lekker, a grab-and-go market in another part of the time before Lazarus moved into her present location.

Neeves is giddy and committed to the edible endeavors Lazarus pursues.

“She is fierce, fun, and welcoming,’’ Neeves said. “She creates dishes that are so unique. She puts so much knowledge and integrity into each dish. She cares for the customers and her workers. She’s all in.”

Eat here, and you will taste the devotion that Lazarus learned when watching her mom prepare massive meals for her family each week and their extended family during the holidays.

You will see her imaginative approach to food inspired by her observation of her dad, an avid deer hunter and grill master, who makes venison sausage worthy of the highest accolades.

Lekker Eats is a culmination of the best of who she is – as an omnivore who knows how to make magnificent healthy food that is sometimes gluten-free and vegan.

Here, we can eat, grin, and give up the sin of unhealthy eating.

By Johanna Wilson Jones