President William Ruto lauded Kenyan entrepreneur Kevin Onyona for his remarkable achievement in establishing the Swahili Village Restaurant in New Jersey, USA, a venture that has thrived for over two decades.
According to kenyans.co.ke, Ruto, who is on a tour of the US, stopped by the restaurant on Sunday and was taken through a tour of the establishment valued at Ksh200 million.
A clip his team later shared showed a luxurious space with well-arranged dining tables interspersed with booths ideal for holding small parties.
While giving a toast, Ruto praised the cuisine which he noted had kept the traditions of the people of Kenya.
“We are very proud as Kenyans and I am very proud as a Kenyan leader that you have come and hustled your way into this great investment and we have come here to celebrate what you are doing,” stated the President.
The food is awesome, the ambience is on another level so congratulations. I know many other people will enjoy the cuisine here and the services of this Swahili Restaurant.”
Ruto also noted that the restaurant was placing Kenyan cuisine on the world map and attracting customers from all other ethnicities.
“I was particularly thrilled to see that you have kept the tradition and style of the food. It felt like we were in Nairobi in a flash. We almost forgot that were in the US because the food was so Kenyan that we really felt at home,” he added.
READ: Tourism: African Tourists Ignite Kenya’s Tourism Renaissance
Onyona founded the establishment in 1999 during a chance trip to reunite with his girlfriend who had gone to Maryland to pursue her studies.
While in US, he struggled with a limited supply of restaurants serving cuisines from Africa and decided to start his own.
Over the years, the hotel has attracted a high calibre clientele from Presidents to employees of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), State Department, World Bank and embassies.
In a previous interview, the chef noted that his interest in the culinary world was sparked by watching his grandmother prepare meals from simple recipes.
Despite studying to become a priest, Onyona pursued his passion and ventured into setting up a restaurant.
The menu includes meals such as the nyama choma which entails chunks of chargrilled beef or goat that have been marinated in a spice blend of various ingredients such as coriander, turmeric, ginger, cumin, paprika and sugar. The meal is served with a plate of ugali.
Others are chopped goat meat cooked slowly with onions and garlic, rendering the meat tender, lentils cooked to softness with onions and garlic and added to a masala sauce alone.
