Testing Nairobi’s tasty joints

Recently, Nairobi was treated to the prestigious and first ever Taste Awards 2011 dubbed ‘Oscars of the Nairobi Food World’. TRICIA WANJALA got up close with Directors of Taste Events Ltd, Shreya Karia and Ami Doshi Shah These two Kenyan women, having lived and worked overseas, decided to come back and showcase the best our outstanding hospitality industry. Shreya Karia, 28 and Ami Doshi Shah, 31, both Directors of Taste Events Ltd, together with one other director, successfully put on the region’s first ever Taste Restaurant Awards at the Tribe Hotel recently. The colourful event brought together an amazing array of key industry players, to highlight excellence and achievement in top restaurants and bars.The trailblazers share with Woman’s Instinct about the idea behind Taste Awards. What inspired Taste Awards?The idea was the brainchild of one of Taste’s other Directors. At its heart, the inspiration of Taste is that of three passionate young people committed to excellence. Every cosmopolitan city around the world is defined by the diversity and authenticity of its bars and restaurants. So our aim is to celebrate this diversity locally and put our city on the global map. We don’t often realise that we have great food, excellent produce and a fantastic variety to choose from. Local Kenyan produce is amongst the best in the world; our food is flavoursome and wholesome. And if you don’t believe it, just ask a guest who comes into town next time.Tell us more about the awards The Taste Bar and Restaurant Awards is the only concept of its kind in the region dedicated exclusively to excellence within the industry. It is open to each and every establishment and gives people the opportunity to have their say in a fair and credible manner. The Awards are separated into two: Prestige Categories and People’s Choice Categories.The Prestige Awards are determined by our judging panel. With a stringent criteria, they truly reflect the best of the best. The process is designed to be as impartial and comprehensive as possible, involving various industry professionals.For the prestige categories, judges ‘mystery-shop’ all the establishments shortlisted. Their score sheets are then compiled and collated by BDO East Africa. Judging criteria within these categories is stringent, and reflects criteria used by other international bodies. Restaurants were judged on their quality of food, use of local produce, service, ambience and the overall experience. Bars were judged on factors such as beverage offering and food, service, ambience, entertainment and overall experience.The People’s Choice Awards were determined by public voting. They reflect the most popular joint as selected by the public. The winner is based on the number of votes received from the general public. Tell us about yourself and the company behind this event. Shreya: I remember a conversation a while back where someone was saying that ‘there is nothing to do in Kenya,’ in terms of entertainment, and of course that is not true. So when the opportunity to work with Taste arose, I was thrilled to be able to showcase all the amazing talent and innovation in our ever-growing hospitality industry, by developing a series of events and campaigns that become a hallmark on the Kenyan dining and entertainment scene.From the restaurant and bar awards to the Taste festival, our vision is to create a platform that celebrates this vibrant culture in Kenya, championing and recognising innovation and talent in this ever-growing industry. We want to raise the profile of Kenyan hospitality globally.Has your professional background always been in the hospitality industry?Shreya: My strength is in branding. I previously headed the brand, marketing and communications for Sankara Nairobi and I have worked with internationally renowned brands like Stella McCartney, the MoÎt Hennessy portfolio, David Jones Australia and the Westfield Group. Having lived in many vibrant cities around the world, I want to raise the profile of my home city, Nairobi and place it on the global map. I hold a Masters in Entrepreneurial Management from the UK and a Bachelor of Commerce in International Business and Management from Australia.Ami: I have always been extremely passionate about food. My training was in jewellery design but I ventured into advertising ten years ago and I never looked back. I was the former account director on Nestle Beverages at McCann Erickson Kenya and I have worked on brands such as Coca-Cola, BDF Beiersdorf and CfC Stanbic.Shreya: Both Ami and I have worked within the brand and communications realm. However, having worked in different industries, we enrich and compliment each other’s roles at Taste events. Any challenges you faced organising the awards?For sure. To make this process as credible, independent and impartial as possible is no easy task. First, to create and develop an initiative such as this, especially one that is bigger than any single person requires vision and commitment.We wanted to make sure that our partners — be it the judges or sponsors were as passionate about what we wanted to achieve. We had many days that were challenging and when many doors wouldn’t open because people didn’t necessarily see the value of what we were trying to achieve.Second, trying to get our judges to carry out their evaluations in ‘mystery shop’ anonymous conditions was no easy task. You can imagine everyone wanted to know who they were and when they would visit their restaurants and bars. But we had to follow a strict policy to maintain anonymity until the judges were done. We have had a few instances where we’ve pulled judges out of evaluating certain establishments because these outlets were actively trying to find out who our judges were and communicate with them. Who have been your supporters?We have had so much support and goodwill for Taste, its humbling. Of course we could never have done this without our partnership with Eat Out, they helped facilitate everything with the establishments. We also thank Heineken and MasterCard for their tremendous support. Our judges have also been great. They were: Caroline Mutoko of Kiss100, Kevin Barron Executive Chef of Ole Sereni and Chair of the Chef’s Association, Koen Morshuis General Manager of Heineken East Africa, Laura Walubengo food writer and senior editor at Capital FM, Gastro D’Nom, food critique and Brian Owango, mixologist.One of the personal highlights for me was when Kitili Mbathi (MD of Standard Bank East Africa), the newly appointed Chair of the KTB mentioned at a dinner that he had voted for Taste and was quite impressed with what we have created.

Testing Nairobi’s tasty joints

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