Tag: Italian Cuisine
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Italian Month at The Artcaffé Market
Three years ago, my then-fiancee and I had the enjoyable task of choosing a sunny spot for our summer honeymoon. Despite a World of possibilities, one destination was always at the top of our list: Italy. It checked all the boxes – the weather, the landscapes, the food and the culture. The only question was…
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The Hub’s Homely Italian Restaurant
When I spoke to the developers of The Hub Karen before it opened in 2016, they were enthusiastic about the mall’s open-air architecture, and particularly about the large piazza. They said that the design was inspired by the squares of Europe, surrounded by pubs, cafés and Sunday markets. The piazza is still very much the…
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Nairobi’s Trattoria Italian Restaurant: A Survivor
‘This is the place where you can watch Nairobi life,’ the man said to his companion, as they were settling into a table next to mine on the balcony of the Trattoria Restaurant. He was a Kenyan and his companion, as I later discovered, was from one of the French-speaking countries of West Africa. It…
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The Lively Backyard of Valley Arcade
La Salumeria in Valley Arcade along Gitanga Road is one of my favourite restaurants in Nairobi. It’s been there for twenty years and, apart from a few places within walking distance of my office in the Lavington Shopping Centre, I have been there more times than any other restaurant in the city. It has an…
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At the New Osteria Restaurant in Nairobi
There’s a special photograph hanging in the main dining room of the Osteria Milano – Nairobi’s new restaurant in Kedong House at the corner of Lenana and Ralph Bunche roads. The black and white photo is of a lady wearing an apron and standing in the doorway of a restaurant in Milan called Osteria. The…
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Caffè Concerto: A Little Place That Serves Big
‘Cooking is an art. It’s a passion, not a business. It’s like therapy for me’. Paola Mazzonello is the owner and head chef at Caffè Concerto, the new Italian restaurant along Kirichwa Road in Kilimani. It’s a modest place, with a handful of tables lining a single room, and scattered across a small courtyard. It’s…
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Il Portico: Nairobi’s Newest Pizza Place
Pizzas. They are an Italian invention, based on a yeasted flatbread, spread with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce and baked in an oven. But their glory is that they can also be topped with a variety of vegetables, meats, and condiments. ‘The great thing about pizzas,’ says Alessandro, ‘is that they can be made of…
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The New Italian Restaurant in Nairobi
I had only one day left for the pleasures of Nairobi city life before flying off to a rural compound in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State – where I knew I would be living on a diet of rice and beans for a couple of weeks. Maurizio, the ebullient host of the popular La Tasca…
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A Little Italy in Dagoretti Corner
Sometimes I act on a tip-off. Like the other day, when a friend said he’d not seen a Going Places on L’Arena Restaurant at Dagoretti Corner. ‘You really should try it,’ he said. ‘Don’t be put off by the area… Just go. And you will be surprised.’ Well, many times when I’ve driven out along…
Going Places Africa 