Chef takes Kenya culture to the US
restaurant scene

Had the hand of fate not intervened, Kevin Onyona would have ended up as a priest, serving spiritual nourishment to his congregation. However, he found himself a girlfriend… and she invited him to the US, where he now runs an African-themed restaurant.

And that is where his journey first into entrepreneurship and later into the food business started some time in 1999.

Today, he is more of a connoisseur of African cuisines and cultural ambassador, thanks to his passion for serving African dishes through his restaurant, Swahili Village.

The investor, who is currently in Kenya, says he is seeking partnerships from cooperatives that can export traditional vegetables and foodstuffs to the US.

As long as the suppliers can pass the stringent tests and meet specified import requirements, they have a window of opportunity to leverage the growing demand in the US for Kenyan food.

“We are talking to cooperatives in Kericho and Kakamega on how they can scale and ensure these products satisfy us and the greater Kenyan community in the USA,” he says.

After leaving his aspirations of priesthood behind, Kevin delved into a sales career, initially in Kenya with Associated Motors and General Motors before relocating to Maryland to join Home Depot.

But it is his passion for the hospitality sector that saw him ignite a flame after enduring below average services at African restaurants.

Kevin’s “aha” moment occurred when he realised that African restaurants were lacking in both hospitality and culture. His wife encouraged him to stop complaining and create a unique offering that met his high standards. This led to the birth of the Swahili Village concept, which was solidified during a family dinner outing in Maryland.

Fuelled by the desire to create a dining experience that combined fine cuisine with clean facilities, Kevin who was working as a sales executive at Home Depot, quit for the unknown, driven by the aspiration to offer something unique from the existing African restaurant landscape in Maryland.

“I went about it with the knowledge that if you turn around a space and make it more desirable, you are halfway there,” he said.

Kevin says he was lucky to have been entrusted with money from friends and families, coupled with his savings to start his first restaurant in Maryland.

Ugali omena

Without any formal culinary training, the self-taught chef who was inspired by the memories of his grandmother’s cooking, particularly her fish dishes, hit the road running. Despite his culinary skills, however, he recognized the need for expertise in running a restaurant. So he hired a consultant.

“The mistake most Africans make is that we just wake up one morning and start making food and call it a business,” he quips, noting that the work of the consultant was to guide him in navigating the restaurant business. I was cooking food like ugali with omena which the chef didn’t relate with. But he prepared Kevin on finer details such as making orders according to the traffic of the day or when to order, the amount of order among others.

“I paid him for his services for three years. After four years, he came to me and told me that I was qualified to be called a chef. It was like doing a course in culinary services,” he said. That is how on July 13, 2016, Swahili Village unveiled its first restaurant in Beltsville, Maryland, and it marked the beginning of the restaurant’s journey, focused on offering not only food and drinks but also authentic African experiences.

However, Swahili Village goes beyond just serving food. “We call ourselves the true taste of Kenya,” he says. Kenya’s strength is in serving and this has led us to a place where we transcend into America which is service oriented. And food service is a big thing in America”.

Swahili Village aims to connect people with African culture and its richness. It offers cuisines not commonly found in African restaurants, distinguishing itself by introducing Kenyan delicacies like nyama choma (marinated goat meat or beef) to American diners. To make it a unique African offering, he also offers the popular jollof rice with a twist of Kenyan flavours.

In 2020, the Washington DC branch was opened then then President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

Unfortunately, the pandemic forced temporary closures, but Kevin says he used the downtime to renovate and reopen the restaurant in 2020.

Although challenged by remote working trends affecting the nearby workforce, Swahili Village was determined to thrive.

Further, he envisions the possibility of growing beyond the current brand and aspires to open more branches across the United States, aiming to introduce even more people to the richness of Kenyan culture and cuisine. Kevin plans to open other outlets in New Jersey, Atlanta and California. The plan is to open a branch every financial year.

Foot traffic

Now an established brand that already promotes Kenya through food and culture, he says that Americans and other nationalities who visit his restaurant can be converted to tourists for Kenya.

“It’s important to note that currently each location has 5,000 footprints per week, which accounts for 15,000 people per week or an estimated 60,000 per month. The average ticket spend (ATS) is between $50 to $100,” Kevin notes.

Kevin wagers that if the brand can manage to convert the footprints to Swahili Culture into potential tourists to Kenya, even at 10 per cent per annum, this can go a long way towards supporting the Kenyan tourism circuit.

Asked about a case in which he has been sued for violating Washington DC’s minimum wage law and other worker protections, Kevin says the case was being handled by his lawyers. The matter is in relation to tips that Swahili Village ought to have paid employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.