How this restaurant is making a tidy sum from dance

At every turn inside Nairobi's Village Market mall, you will find a restaurant. They are a dime a dozen. Therefore, to have a steady stream of customers occupying your tables speaks to some level of likability.

It's Saturday evening when we visit Oysters and More - one of the many restaurants in the mall. In the background, afrobeat and pop tunes render the air.

Along a spacious strip on the restaurant floor some revellers salsa about; male and female; they gyrate and move in unison.

"You don't need to be a couple to dance," says Elena Kuoni, the proprietor of Oysters and More. "The dancing is a display of love for art and not necessarily romance."

Elena says the fact that the restaurant creates space and ambience for eating customers to take part in dancing as well has been a boon to the business.

"In fact, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we have what we call Afro-Latin Socials: when we dance Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba," she says.

Interestingly, free dancing at the restaurant did not come about as a result of planning and strategy.

She says: "I had been taking dance classes around the time the restaurant was opened.

"The restaurant sort of became my day job. I came here every day: to make sure customers were eating fresh tasty food and giving me feedback on where to improve.

"As a result, I did not have time to go practice. So, I made a decision - to bring the dance here and have everyone (those interested) take part as well."

First, the instructor showed up once a week: on Wednesdays. Elena then took note of clients trooping every Wednesday. The only explanation was, "the opportunity to eat and dance." And so, one more day - Sunday - was added for the dances.

Indeed, some of the restaurant's clients, like Michelle Aricha, on Sundays, would rather be nowhere else except at Oysters and More.

"I love oysters. So, about a year and a half back, I came here to eat oysters. I found Kizomba here. And I have rarely missed a Sunday," she says.

In one place, Aricha says, she found two things that she loves: oysters and Kizomba.

Kizomba is a dance (and musical genre) with origins in Angola. Kizomba means 'party' in Kimbundu, a Bantu language by the Ambundu people in Angola.

Afro-Latin social Sundays have a mix of Kizomba, Bachata and Salsa: music and dance with high sensuality.

But for Aricha, Kizomba has an enchanting musicality, "It carries with it a history and dancing to it is paying homage and respect to the culture."

Another loyal client at the restaurant is Sonal Maherali who is a Nairobi-based luxury fashion blogger and entrepreneur.

"First, Elena is my friend. The first time I came here I was supporting my friend's business.

"However, what has kept me coming is good vibes, good energy and good people. Also, I learnt Kizomba coming here and it has become a big part of my life.

"I also come here to eat oysters: did you know that they are an aphrodisiac?" Sonal quips.

She believes that the restaurant has become a hit with revellers partly because of dance and music.

"What the music and dance did is create a social setting for people to be part of every Wednesday and Sunday: It has made us a family.

"Food is important. Music and dance are therapy. Combine music, dance and food and Bingo!

"It's not dating or anything like that. It is just having a good time as you eat good food or have your drink," she says.

In January Oysters and More celebrated two years since opening its doors. The irony is that it was acquired at a time the Covid-19 pandemic was still raging.

Elena, the brains behind it, had also never run a restaurant business before.

"To be honest, when the space became available, taking it up was gambling. I was not certain that we would achieve this kind of success," she says.

The space, she notes, was being auctioned - the previous owners were possibly closing due to economic pressure brought about by the pandemic.

"I was just trying out. It was my first time running a restaurant business. A combination of passion and dedication went into its creation and things have worked out for us," she says.

Elena is aware that a good number of her clients like the food-plus-dance atmosphere. However, she notes, for a restaurant, the ultimate customer magnet is good food.

"You can serve clients in a plate of gold but if the food does not taste good in their mouths they will not come back. Neither will they recommend the joint to their friends," she says.

Before Oysters and More, Elena was into high-end fashion. She is the founder of Kshmr by Kuoni: a cloth line that dabbles in pure cashmere ensembles.

"The lesson I have learnt is that in all businesses, the customer is king: because they show you what they want and if you give it to them they bring you more customers."

The biggest challenge running the restaurant, she says, has been the high cost of delivering quality. "Good food is fresh. We buy our supplies every two days just to make sure everything is fresh," she says.

"A lot of our ingredients are sourced locally. However, we have some specialty dishes whose ingredients come from overseas: like salmon. "These too are imported fresh via air transportation just in time for clients to enjoy.

"Fresh food preserves the flavour and we do not want to compromise on that. My suppliers have been understanding why we stress on the freshness of ingredients."

Even though she is the manager, Elena has flung herself into the kitchen too. She bakes Russian-inspired Napoleon cakes for customers.

"The recipe is a secret that will die with me," she says, giggling as we press for more details.

"I have several recipes passed down from my mother and grandmother that I try out for our customers. One of them is Salmon soup," she observes.

Oysters and More operates a bar too. "It is actually a gastro-bar: a place to eat and have a drink. Oysters are our speciality but we also have meats, soups, vegan and vegetarian foods, and seafood as well," Elena says.

Whatever the case, the joint has distinctly merged cuisine and music in a way that has catapulted their ambitions.

Music and dance, Elena says, is not for couples alone: "The goal is a restaurant that is more than just the food; a place where we can appreciate dancing either by yourself or with others."

As lovers mark Valentine's Day, it is not easy to find start-ups that have incorporated love and their services as Oysters and More have.