Fine Dining Proves a Hard Sell - VIDEO

At a fine dining restaurant in Nairobi, a tiny slice of bread with butter and caviar on top was brought to a table.

“Caviar on bread?” A server in a fine dining restaurant asks. He holds a plate of miniature appetisers in front of a group of diners.

“What is caviar?” A man asks, suspiciously eyeing the tiny black eggs.

“It is cured fish eggs, luxury food, although it is not from a beluga,” the server patiently explains.

A few diners pick the appetiser and wipe off the caviar, which is the most expensive dish in the menu, without care of its price and what it took to ship it to Kenya. Some leave it untouched and wait for the next course to be served.

As more restaurants in Kenya elevate their cuisines and introduce exotic ones to give foodies new experiences, some luxury foods only served in fine dining restaurants are proving a hard sell.

Not many Kenyans, even the wealthy and well-travelled, are experimental enough to try foods such as foie gras, which is fattened goose or duck liver pâté or raw salmon or buffalo milk or aged beef served with edible flowers.

As the restaurants spruce up the spaces, hire renowned executive chefs to 'play' with different ingredients to entice palates of Kenyans with their rare and adventurous cuisines, the appetite of diners is not growing as fast as expected.

At another fine dining restaurant, some executive chefs who have worked in sophisticated markets like France are not keen to renew their Kenyan work permits because Nairobi market curtails their creativity. They are not able to experiment with different ingredients because Kenyans are “conservative and prefer foods they know.”

Sheila Rabala, a frequent diner and food blogger says the take up may be slow because fine dining is associated with small portions and exorbitant prices. “We {Kenyans} are used to equating value for money to generous food portions as opposed to quality of food and this I think is the reason why the uptake in fine dining in Kenya is slow,” she says.

She adds that there are also very few fine dining restaurants as compared to casual dining and fast food ones.

“Some of the restaurants in Kenya that classify themselves as fine dining do not follow through with the experience. They lack consistency whether it is due to the high turnover of staff or other reasons, hence they fail to maintain the quality of food and experience as fine dining restaurants should,” Sheila says.

There is also the challenge that Kenyans do not really understand the concept of fine dining.

So what is a fine dining? It all starts with the architecture and design of the hotel. From the furniture to the interior decor, fine dining restaurants feature a minimalistic style of decor where subtle colours, cosy yet deluxe furniture play a major role.

Next is the service staff; their dressing, mannerisms and how they welcome guests showcases professionalism and etiquette that cannot be found in other restaurants. Pulling of chairs, coat hangers for the gentlemen and handbag side tables for the ladies are some of the items you can never miss.

Servers are well informed about what the restaurant offers and can explain the dishes with utmost detail.

“Food at a fine dining restaurant is also not the same as anywhere else. The highest quality ingredients are a must in a fine dining establishment. The ingredients we use here are artisanal, which means you cannot find them in a supermarket,” explains Wissem Abdellatif, an executive chef of Radisson Blu.

A good wine list is also a necessity at a fine dining restaurant.

Chef Hany Elkazaz, the chef de cuisine at Tambourin Restaurant at Villa Rosa Kempinski says that the number of courses in a menu is also a major determinant on whether a restaurant is fine dining or not.

“Five courses, six courses and even 10-course menus are a norm at fine dining restaurants,” he says.

Luxurious cutlery

The concept of fine dining was introduced in the 19th Century after the French Revolution where unemployed chefs from aristocratic households began opening their own restaurants.

These restaurants targeted the upper class who dined in fine China, luxurious cutlery and tables covered with linen cloths, which were previously a preserve of aristocrats.

Prix fixe menus and à la cartemenus were displayed in the restaurants and patrons paid hefty bills to enjoy private dinners. It was also during this century that France saw an influx of tourists from Europe visiting the restaurants which led to the growth of a vibrant food scene. Years passed and the trend caught on in the rest of the world.

In Kenya, there are only about five proper fine dining restaurants. One of their challenge has been competition from casual restaurants which are favoured by “dining rookies” who do not want to make mistakes of ordering the 'wrong food'.

These rookies prefer 'safe foods' such as beef or chicken which comes fried or grilled and for starter, they order a samosa, to the dismay of the executive chefs.

Kimani Kiarie, the executive chef at 5 Senses Restaurant in Nairobi says Kenyan diners are used to large portioned meals at low prices, buy-one-get-one-free and happy hour deals, offers that are not possible in fine dining restaurants.

“The ingredients used in casual restaurants are not as artisanal as those used in fine dining restaurants and this enables them to pull in the masses,” he says.

The fact that our society is also more casual plays a role. Most times, dinners in Kenya are casual meet-ups where people want to let loose, enjoy and they only dress up during special occasions.

“I’ve worked in countries where fine dining is taken so seriously-people dress up. I’ve even seen children as young as 12 not only drinking wine during such dinners but they are also knowledgeable when it comes to food and wine because it's something they are used to. I haven’t seen this here as most families eat out during weekends, splurging on meals only during Christmas and Easter,” Chef Kimani explains.

Soni Adriance, a frequent diner agrees to this saying: “The uptake of fine dining in Kenya is still slow because most people go to these restaurants during special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays, since it is an expensive treat that not everyone can do every night of the week.”

Getting the very rare ingredients used in these fancy restaurants is also a challenge. While Kenya has quality vegetables compared to other countries in Europe and the Middle East, its meat is not world-class quality, says Chef Hany of Villa Rosa Kempinski.

Import ingredients

Most have to import meats, cheese, wines and oils from Italy, France, Australia and Dubai to replicate foods served in sophisticated markets.

For instance saffron, used especially for rice dishes, is one of the most expensive spices and the threads are carefully hand-picked from the specific crocus sativus flower. A special meal with saffron is pricey than normal.

When it comes to fancy restaurants, there is a lot of pressure on the chefs to make perfect dishes which are plated perfectly.

“Fine dining entails beautifully plated food, vibrant use of colours, mind-blowing taste and there’s a lot of pressure on international chefs to perfect these. It's sad that this pressure has led to serious mental issues for some chefs who have resorted to committing suicide,” explains Chef Kimani.

Regular customer

The 5 Senses Restaurant chef says the Kenyan palate is also not used to ‘raw’ foods.

“For instance, we still get guests who prefer well-done steaks because they believe any less doneness renders the meat uncooked yet for you to taste the authentic meat flavour, it is not advisable to have it well-done,” he says.

He adds that most foreign guests say fine dining in Nairobi is good, but it is not mind blowing.

“We however have the potential to grow especially if our chefs travel and experience what the international food scene has to offer in terms of cooking techniques among other skills. Kenya can also produce Michelin-star chefs and become the second country in Africa after South Africa to do so,” he says.

As much as the fine dining culture in Kenya is slowly picking up, restaurants that offer this cuisine still get regular customers who fall in the upper middle class and upper class.

“Most of our clientele include top government officials, CEOs and well-travelled business people who appreciate the finesse of fine dining. Although we do get the occasional customer who doesn’t understand why food has to come in gradual succession for the three-course meal, most of our clientele appreciate fine dining and then they know their wines,” says Chef Wissem of Radisson Blu.