Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
EKasi eatery serves up culture
WHILE South African townships like Khayelitsha are largely dominated by chisa nyama-type of restaurants, local entrepreneur Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena wants to add something different by introducing a “restaurant culture” to the area.
Gugulethu-born Mbalo-Mokoena, 42, a dental technologist, swopped her profession and opened a restaurant, 4Roomed eKasi Culture, located on a vibrant street in Khayelitsha.
She runs the business with her husband, Sam Mokoena, a qualified mechanical engineer, who also left his profession to assist full-time with the restaurant.
Mbalo-Mokoena said she began her business in 2014, when she was a contestant on MasterChef SA.
“I am a dental technologist by profession and was practising for 17 years before I resigned. So in 2014, I was still a practising dental technologist when I entered for the MasterChef competition,” said Mbalo-Mokoena.
She said at the time cooking was something she loved doing as a hobby, normally over weekends.
“We started with a food truck in 2014, operating on weekends in Khayelitsha and at the time we still lived in the suburbs.
“In 2015, we saw that the model would actually do well as it would serve the ideas we (my husband, Sam Mokoena and myself) had in mind of increasing the influx of tourists into the township space, help develop the economy of this space and also be an inspiration to others,” said Mbalo-Mokoena.
Mbalo-Mokoena said since the restaurant was opened in 2016, it has had good reviews in Eat Out magazine and attracted a lot of people who had never experienced what it is like to eat at a township restaurant, to visit 4Roomed eKasi Culture.
“A restaurant culture in the township space stimulates growth in this area and we also become competitive with others,” she said.
She also signed up for Google My Business, which offers small business owners a free platform to easily reach and engage with a potential customer base, grow demand and eventually grow their business operations despite a competitive marketplace.