Companies

Sarova goes into restaurant business

urban

Urban Eatery Restaurant, Delta Tower, Westlands. PHOTO | FILE

Hotels chain Sarova Hotels and Resorts has ventured into the restaurant business in the wake of Covid-19 that has hurt its hotel outlets like the Stanley and Panafric.

The chain has opened two restaurants at Urban Eatery in Westlands— Chiso that will focus on Japanese, Malay, Thai, Indonesian and Chinese food and The Kitchen, which will offer Western, African and Indian food.

Sarova is eyeing Kenya’s middle class with the two hotels, which were opened on Tuesday in Westlands, to remain afloat at a time when numbers of foreign visitors fell by two thirds due to Covid-19 between January and October.

The fall in arrivals has hurt Sarova luxury hotels like the Stanley and lodges in parks like Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru.

International visitors fell to fewer than 500,000 in the first 10 months to October from 1.7 million in the same period last year, with the industry having lost close to Sh109 billion in revenue

“Taking our cuisine brands out of our hotels and making them stand alone restaurants is our latest new development,” said Jimi Kariuki, Sarova managing director.

“This has been a very challenging year for the hospitality industry. But despite this, we at Sarova have seen this as an opportunity to innovate and to be creative through ‘exporting’ our cuisine experiences outside of our hotels.”

Sarova will now battle with other eateries such as Artcaffe, Java, Urban Burger and Nyama Mama.

The food prices in the restaurants will be 15 percent less compared to what Sarova charges in its hotels.

“We feel the market has become quite sophisticated in terms of cuisines and that’s why we decided to venture outside the hotel,” Mr Kariuki said.

“Urban Eatery is a trendy dining space which offers different kitchens that offer different cuisines. Sarova have taken up two of the kitchens which will be branded.”