By Chef Kabui
Cape Chestnut is one eatery in Nanyuki that sets itself apart from other food joints that I have visited. When I say it is a different space, I mean it in every sense. Let me start by warning anyone with a closed mind and a faint wit that this restaurant is not for them. It is not all in vain for that person(s), for at the very least, they know not to waste their energy going there. However, they surely will miss the palpable love and warmth of the space.
The restaurant is owned and operated by two women, who are also partners. One is an American trained chef and the other is an Indian self-made chef. The eclectic combination of the two cultures, training and passion makes for a perfect recipe of food that adds value to an African culinary tour. I typically would not eat American or Indian food during my tours in Kenya, but this is one experience I truly appreciated. My hesitation to eat these foods are largely emotional as well as political. I grew up with Indian friends and later moved to America where I have been living amongst some solid American friends. In both of these instances, I have matured enough to separate individuals from their dominant culture. I am able to live and thrive in that duality of a White oppressive power and to have some honest friends who happen to be white. A similar binary holds in my dealing with Africans. I now understand, regrettably, that not all Africans desire freedom or are willing to pay the price for it. That ultimately leaves me is a point of discrimination. Yes, you read that right.
“Discrimination” started as a positive word until it was politicized by the oppressors. These oppressors practiced an illegitimate form of discrimination to deny other's their rights to their culture, wealth, labor, markets, education and health. Yet, the etymology of the word has nothing to do with injustices, but rather discernment. In other words, discrimination is the ability to tell differences for the sake of making the correct decision or choice.
I, therefore, appreciated the restaurant because it represented my food story outside the African experience. The first foreign food that I ate was Indian. The latest influence on my food thinking is American. I call these influences the stem. The root is African, and they all bear fruit that is a synthesis of African, Indian and American, which I call Afro Futuristic Conscious Cuisine.
I have to confess that the above description is overly simplistic and only useful in my narration of this specific story. Had I enough time and space and patience on your part, I would indulge in an equally interesting exegesis about how each of the three cultural cuisines are equally interconnected at their root. African food is deeply influenced by Indians who came to Kenya to build railways in the late 1800s. America was founded as a result of Europeans desire for Indian spices. Africans had been trading with Asia long before the coming of Arabs and Europeans.
The connections do not end with the cultural and professional ties of the owners of Chestnut, but also with the word “chestnut”. Chestnuts also have an interesting story for Indigenous Africans, Asians, Americans and even Europeans. The tree contributed greatly to the building of wealth in modern day America. Enslaved Africans were central in the gathering of the nuts for food from the tree, which was sometimes referred to as the “bread tree". Its valuable wood is rot-resistant (though that did not make it immune to an Asian fungus that attacked the American Chestnut tree species that numbered in the billions). As a tree that starts to produce nuts at 40 years and can live to be 1000 years, it is a symbol of both food security and vulnerability. In America, Indigenous people knew how to make both milk and flour for communities that provided a major source of the starch. Now, science has proven that chestnuts are a superior source of starch and contain other minerals such as selenium. The name, therefore, has an equally complex history that spans a wide period and across cultures.
The Chestnut Restaurant represents the positive aspects of this long history, that is, the resilience, the nurturing aspects and a healthy dose of uniqueness. The two owners took time to welcome me and share their vision and philosophy. They have a farm in Mauu that provides them with a bulk of their food. That means that they do not have a standard menu. Their kitchen runs around the season.
One thing that you will not find there is anything plastic. I need not do anything except give a big salute. The restaurant earned a place in my crass heart. That is one team that I would love to collaborate with for a fine dinner because our history, philosophy and destiny are aligned.
I could not hide my excitement about what I was hearing about the restaurant. My sister Wanjiku from Porini had to be a genius to select this as one of the places in Nanyuki to visit. Thinking about the chestnut can create a cultural and historical thesis about food of the triple heritage of the cultures aforementioned. It has not always been fancy but we have enough good to build a culture that is as valuable, transcendent and futuristic as a chestnut.