The only reason for Geco Cafe’s existence is because Mateus Finato couldn’t afford a plane ticket back home to Brazil.
Well, there were other reasons—chance, opportunity, consistency, toil—but Pampa Churrascaria Steakhouse had gone south and Mateus was set on going back home.
Had he had a ticket, he would have been in Sau Paulo now, running a small bohemian restaurant in Vila Madalena and wearing his snazzy hats, and catering to a Havaianas-wearing crowd. But he’s here and so is Geco Cafe.
The simplicity of his business idea would not be termed genius. Geco Cafe started as a carwash cafe where men sat on not more than seven seats having coffee as they waited for their cars to be washed.
The genius, however, is how he transformed it into an avant-garde, a statement of its time. Mateus is an introverted explorer, a lover of cars built to chase sunsets and sunrises, not sit in parking lots. Geco recently opened a branch in Ngara, Nairobi, because Mateus’ vision is inexplicable to mortals.
Did you grow up around and in restaurants, food, and art?
I grew up in a tiny town in Brazil called Rondinha. It’s the part of Brazil where Italian descendants had settled.
A small farming town. We are farmers, my parents are farmers, and all our neighbours have always been farmers. Everybody knew one another. My childhood memories are of working on a farm, tilling land and things. I didn’t like it at all. [chuckles].
I’m the youngest of three siblings and my dad had certain expectations of me, to continue with the farm and all.
But I knew from a young age that farming just wasn’t for me, I wanted to study, so I left home for a small town called Guapore, about 300 kilometres away, and then later to Sao Paulo—1,500km from home—to continue with my studies. I got my first job in a big restaurant called Vento Haragano.
What does that mean?
It means Wind from the North. They are no longer open. I was a steward; doing dishes, cleaning, and the work. Then I started learning how to cook. We were about 170 employees all wearing the same uniform except for this one fellow who would dress differently.
I often wondered why until I discovered he was a sommelier. That’s who I wanted to be. [Laughs].
The language spoken was Portuguese and most of the staff couldn’t speak English, so I saw that as an opportunity to learn an extra language to give me an edge. I started to learn English and Spanish while studying to be a sommelier.
Through this, I got an opportunity to visit South American countries like Chile, and Argentina. One day this Australian called Nick Flynn asked me if I was interested in joining him in India where he was opening a restaurant, a steakhouse.One shouldn’t say no to things when they are 21, so off I went to Gurgaon, India to open a Brazilian steakhouse.
How confident were you as a 21-year-old, to open a Brazilian steakhouse?
Not at all. [Laughs] India was different. I recall leaving home when it was minus 5 degrees, in the middle of winter. I arrived in India close to midnight, and when the doors of the plane opened the heat knocked me back. It was 39 degrees! It wasn’t hell, but it was close.
[Laughs] The people were receptive, though, everyone was very happy to have a Brazilian guy around. I had to quickly adapt to many things. We opened the restaurant and it did quite well. I was there for two years and then took an invite from a Brazilian friend who came to Kenya. It was supposed to be a detour as I headed back home.
We did safaris around Kenya and later flew back to Sao Paulo where I got a great job I later quit when my friend who was setting up Brazilian steakhouses said, do you want to come to Kenya and help me run a restaurant? I flew down and worked at Pampa Churrascaria for eight years. I left in 2017.
Mateus Finato, Brazilian chef and owner of Geco Café.
Photo credit: Jackson Biko | Nation Media Group
The plan was to leave for Brazil but I couldn’t afford the plane ticket. So when a friend of mine, Roger, who runs Geco car wash asked me if I could start a small coffee shop here, I said why not? And so, in August 2017 we started serving coffee.
So it was just a barista who I trained and myself and a cashier. We had very few seats. Then it just grew from there. [Shrugs]
I’m sure it wasn’t that simple.
It didn’t happen overnight, for sure. It wasn’t just luck, either. We worked hard and went through a lot to grow as we have grown. We started our first live music in February 2018 on a Friday evening after we got our liquor licence and people would have wine. Before that, we used to close the house at 6pm.
You know, when the car wash closes. We didn’t have anybody here and Tim Riungu and Friends band would play to only my staff.
[Laughs]. But slowly, friends brought friends to this little place that looked like a library. Last year, we had almost 300 live music performances. I’m not talking about artistes who come to do covers of American artistes, I’m talking about homegrown Kenyan artistes showcasing their music. This, I think, is a huge accomplishment. Things have grown, we have something like 150 staff now.
Do you see yourself as a restaurateur?
People always ask me what I would do next if I wasn’t doing this. I think I would still have a tiny little restaurant somewhere.
I don’t see myself as a businessman who would invest in a chain of restaurants. I would very much run a small restaurant like this. I’m a cook and a cleaner, and I serve. I want to be close to the business, that way I can feel its heart.
Yes, I think Geco Cafe has been successful. 2019 was a very good year. But then Covid happened and we closed but we paid all our staff—35 of them then—every single month until we opened. We opened and started again, adding a chair here, and a table there. We invite new artistes to play every Tuesday and Thursday. We have opened another branch in Ngara. I think it’s gone well.
Why Ngara? Is Ngara getting gentrified?
[Laughs] Besides the history of Sarakasi where the cafe is, I think I see Ngara being a new hub of arts and cool things in 2025.
What new habits are you going to work on this year?
I’m not a New Year resolution kind of guy but what I want to do more this year is spend more time with family.
I have a three-year-old son that needs me a lot, and I need him a lot. I want to continue travelling more. I really like spending time with nature. Nairobi can become overwhelming. I need to run off to a place with no network, just friends and nature. I camp a lot. We have a community called Geco Expeditions started in 2018 a group of friends, who invite other friends who love cars and travelling.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m an introvert.
How does that play out when you have to run a business that’s driven by people and socialising?
It’s difficult. Over the years you learn how to separate the business owner and who you are. I’m not outgoing, I don’tenjoy talking to people, walking around and greeting, and stuff like that. Half the time I don’t even know where to put my hands. [Laughs] But it’s the nature of this business, so you find a way.
And I guess this is part of the reason I find time to leave and drive to the bush and spend time in nature.
Biggest trial of your life?
Being alone in a foreign country and you have no resources. My wife, she’s from India. We met in 2007 when I was in India. We got married in January 2020 but it should have been done much sooner only that I never had the capabilities to do so.
We had a lot of financial issues. So she had jobs elsewhere in India, in China, in different places. So at some point, I was here by myself, getting by without knowing what tomorrow holds in terms of the future of my business and even my future. And it was scary.
Because things change, the government of the day changes, and Nairobi changes, and when you have 150 staff that depend on you, that’s some real pressure right there.
Are you an artist first and a businessman second or is it the other way round?
I’m an artist first. The business follows the art. Art always leads. And when the business follows the art and the art comes with passion then money will come. And sometimes money doesn’t come as fast as you want it to because if I was driven by profits I would have closed Geco the many years it was not turning anything. I would not have had a band come every week if I was looking at money.
I had the band over even when it didn’t make sense when we paid them with everything we made because I enjoy music and I believe in it.
One of your tattoos has the words ‘Born Free’. What’s that about?
You are born in this world and you are here. Be free. Seek your freedom. Nobody else will find it for you but yourself. I love the freedom of nature, of driving somewhere far and remote and setting camp before a sunset. I’m part of a group called Geco Expeditions. We travel. We seek nature and we enjoy it.
What habits do you intend to kick in 2025?
Wow. [Long pause] I don't. I don't think I have too many really bad habits. I don’t smoke. I drink socially, now and then. [Pause] I’m a workaholic. It’s not a bad habit, however, I would like to dedicate more time to my family.
I’m getting old,(38), and I don’t want to waste time. I think it’s a bad habit of wasting time focusing too much on anything that isn’t family.
