In an interview in Westlands, Sharon Kimani, a food content creator aged 28, explained how food content in Kenya has steadily gained popularity on various social media platforms.
“Unlike four years ago where the most engagement I got from my food content was 10 likes, I am now happy that there has been a tenfold increase in my engagement, despite being a small content creator,” Kimani said.
Speaking from Thika, John Bwire, a food content creator aged 35, mentioned how he almost gave up on his food content after five years of little or no engagement in his food content.
“When I saw the potential of content on food hidden gems in Nairobi, I immediately got to work by capitalising on this opportunity- a decision that I do not regret making,” Bwire stated.
On the Kenyan side of TikTok, there has been a trend of content creators discovering food hidden gems in Nairobi. A hidden gem refers to something, often a place, experience, or even a person, that is valuable, special, or enjoyable, but not widely known or appreciated.
In the context of food hidden gems, these content creators go to restaurants that are not that well-known and record their full experience.
Detailing the ambience in these restaurants, customer service and menu itineraries, the content creators are able to influence the next food venture for Kenyan food lovers engaging with this content.
However, the captivating videos of various food hidden gems rarely capture the Kenyans behind the success of these food joints- the restaurant owners.
In an interview at his restaurant in Westlands, Carlton Omondi, a restaurant owner aged 40, explained that he had always dreamed of being a restaurant owner. In the beginning, he had the tunnel vision of being a high-end restaurant owner.
“One of my friends was a restaurant owner of a high-end restaurant in Kitisuru and seeing how successful he had become, owning a high-end restaurant became an imperative milestone that I had to achieve,” Omondi said.
Biting the bullet, he decided to invest all his savings in buying a high-end restaurant in Kilimani. Though the risk was great, he reasoned that the lucrative profits that would come from the business would dissipate the capital that had burned a hole in his pocket.
However, after six months of no profit, the alarm bells began going off in his mind.
“Thinking that it was just taking longer than usual for my business to pick up, I tried to keep grinding,” Omondi stated.
Even though he ended up reselling the restaurant at a price that could not compensate him, it was a decision that he had to make after a whole year of incurring loss after loss. Thinking that the dream of being a restaurant owner was in his rearview, he went back home completely depleted.
However, in this vulnerable moment, he happened to see a TikTok video about a food hidden gem.
“At first, I did not get the concept of a food hidden gem, but after reading the comments in that video, I realized that there was a Kenyan food audience that had not yet been tapped into fully,” Omondi expressed.
Knowing that the dream of being a restaurant owner would always be a dark shadow haunting him, he decided to give his dream one last chance.
Though the dream had drastically changed from a high-end restaurant to a hidden food gem, he was optimistic that his dream would pan out.
“Buying a restaurant in Westlands with a bank loan, my family and friends thought that I was one step away from plummeting into bankruptcy,” Omondi said.
The moderate size of this restaurant was in his favour because that meant that the maintenance cost would be more manageable.
Moreover, he decided that a few staff who worked like a well-oiled machine were better than employing a lot of people who would perform minuscule roles.
Not leaving the menu up to chance, he spent two months consulting various chefs on the most scrumptious meals that would be cost-friendly for the customers.
“Even though some people might ridicule my restaurant for being a hidden gem, the system that runs the place assures me of longevity- the cost-friendly, delicious meals on the menu are a bonus,” Omondi said.
In an interview in Kasarani, Grace Nyokabi, a restaurant owner aged 28, stated that owning a food hidden gem had not been in her cards initially.
Having a passion for culinary arts from a young age, her dream had looked more like being a sous chef in a big restaurant in Nairobi.
“I remember my mother constantly saying that she was thankful for a daughter who was genuinely interested in helping her with the cooking," Nyokabi said.
“I was the type of kid who would have much rather watched a cooking show than a cartoon,” she emphasised.
Though her parents were apprehensive about making a career out of culinary arts, they realized that her determination could not be wavered.
Going above and beyond to learn all that she could in her culinary arts course, it was no surprise when she graduated at the top of her class.
“After my graduation, I could not contain my excitement because of the array of possibilities that were within my reach,” Nyokabi stated.
Fortunately, her fantasy became a reality after she was employed three months later as a chef at a big restaurant in Nairobi.
However, within the first two weeks, she realized that the expectations she had convoluted in her mind were a far cry from reality.
“First and foremost, the head chef I was working under was simply a bully- my whole shift would be filled with his constant and unprovoked ridicule and chiding,” Nyokabi explained.
Nevertheless, knowing that this job had been a dream for her since childhood, she was not willing to throw in the towel immediately.
Consoling herself that the constant jabs by the head chef were just his way of sharpening her skills, she tried to switch off her emotions and focus on her work.
Despite this resolve, the head chef limiting her creativity was what ultimately forced her to quit. When she initially pitched her creative ideas of improving the menu, and the head chef immediately shut her down, she assumed that he wanted her to prove her worth more in the kitchen.
Nonetheless, after four months of the head chef blatantly ignoring her ideas, it dawned on her that the head chef would never be willing to give her an audience, no matter how hard she tried.
“When I quit my job, my parents thought that I had lost my mind- I was, however, not willing to compromise on my creativity for a job,” Nyokabi said.
A month after quitting her job, she used the savings that she had accumulated during her employment to buy a small café in Kasarani.
What most people perceived as a fall from grace was just an opportunity for her to creatively come up with her menu. With the idea of enriching the food palette of Kenyans, she decided to incorporate matcha and different lattes in her menu.
“For years, most Kenyans have assumed that tea and plain coffee are the only drink options because of affordability," Nyokabi said.
“The affordability of drinks like matcha and lattes in my café is giving Kenyans the opportunity to broaden their scope,” she continued.
Just like any business in Kenya, there are challenges that restaurant owners of food hidden gems face.
“The very concept of a hidden gem presents a challenge- it takes a lot of time and patience for a food hidden gem to gain traction in the beginning and get a steady flow of customers,” Omondi said.
“Most human beings are skeptical of new things, and with my matcha and latte business, it takes a lot of time to convince some people to try out my menu," Nyokabi said.
"Some days are spent assuring people interested in my menu that their money will not be wasted after buying a drink from my café,” she continued.
Despite these challenges, Omondi and Nyokabi maintained that their decision to be restaurant owners of food hidden gems is not one that they see regretting anytime soon.
As their restaurants continue to gain traction and remunerative profits, these restaurant owners are more headstrong than ever in their resolve to leave a mark in the food industry in Kenya.
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