Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena: Difference between revisions
→Culinary career: ekasi |
→Culinary career: +ref |
||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
== Culinary career == |
== Culinary career == |
||
Mbalo-Mokoena is self-taught.<ref name=":7" /> The restaurant opened in 2014 as a food truck parked next to a [[shisa nyama]]<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/248083/former-masterchef-contestant-s-eatery-reinvents-traditional-african-food|title=Former MasterChef contestant's eatery reinvents traditional African food|last=|first=|date=March 13, 2017|website=CapeTalk|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> and three years later moved into a four-roomed house.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgyLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=Mbalo-Mokoena&source=bl&ots=e8D4YkmvxX&sig=ACfU3U0B0nffOjrPJF0k86WLoI8FTuqREQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqjNC3-5HkAhUReKwKHauNDDEQ6AEwF3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Mbalo-Mokoena&f=false|title=Around the World in 80 Food Trucks|last=|first=|date=2019|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=|isbn=9781788684965|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> The restaurant is named for the four-room, four-family<ref name=":5" /> bungalow typical in South Africa's ''eKasi'' (townships).<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/travel/south-africa/western-cape/promising-tourism-businesses-rewarded-in-the-cape-17734345|title=Promising tourism businesses rewarded in the Cape {{!}} IOL Travel|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> Mbalo-Mokoena was raised in this type of home.<ref name=":0" /> In the house where she grew up, "every room was a bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge."<ref name=":5" /> |
Mbalo-Mokoena is self-taught.<ref name=":7" /> The restaurant opened in 2014 as a food truck parked next to a [[shisa nyama]]<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/248083/former-masterchef-contestant-s-eatery-reinvents-traditional-african-food|title=Former MasterChef contestant's eatery reinvents traditional African food|last=|first=|date=March 13, 2017|website=CapeTalk|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> and three years later moved into a four-roomed house.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgyLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=Mbalo-Mokoena&source=bl&ots=e8D4YkmvxX&sig=ACfU3U0B0nffOjrPJF0k86WLoI8FTuqREQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqjNC3-5HkAhUReKwKHauNDDEQ6AEwF3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Mbalo-Mokoena&f=false|title=Around the World in 80 Food Trucks|last=|first=|date=2019|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=|isbn=9781788684965|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> The restaurant is named for the four-room, four-family<ref name=":5" /> bungalow typical in South Africa's ''eKasi'' (townships<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yT_eCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT115&dq=ekasi+house&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvz4ablpnkAhWsc98KHQRyDh4Q6AEwAnoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=ekasi%20house&f=false|title=Contracts, Patronage and Mediation: The Articulation of Global and Local in the South African Recording Industry|last=Pietilä|first=Tuulikki|date=2015-10-21|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137562326|language=en}}</ref>).<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/travel/south-africa/western-cape/promising-tourism-businesses-rewarded-in-the-cape-17734345|title=Promising tourism businesses rewarded in the Cape {{!}} IOL Travel|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> Mbalo-Mokoena was raised in this type of home.<ref name=":0" /> In the house where she grew up, "every room was a bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge."<ref name=":5" /> |
||
The restaurant specializes in modern interpretations of traditional African dishes, and especially South African dishes.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fr.africanews.com/2017/04/18/afrique-du-sud-un-chef-reinvente-la-nourriture-traditionnelle/|title=Afrique du sud : un chef réinvente la nourriture traditionnelle|last=|first=|date=April 4, 2017|website=Africanews|language=fr|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> 4Roomed serves a five-course tasting menu at a single communal table.<ref name=":5" /> Customers are approximately 30% local residents and the remainder tourists.<ref name=":5" /> ''[[Saveur]]'' called it "backyard fine dining."<ref name=":1" /> [[The Sunday Times (South Africa)|''The Sunday Times'']] said it was "disrupting the South African food scene with its re-imagined township cuisine that challenges notions of what constitutes fine dining."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/food/2018-09-13-khayelitsha-chef-gives-switzerland-a-taste-of-ekasi-cuisine/|title=Khayelitsha chef gives Switzerland a taste of eKasi cuisine|last=Zingithwa|first=Zola|date=September 13, 2018|website=The Sunday Times|language=en-ZA|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref> Mbalo-Mokoena also has a casual restaurant and carryout a few blocks from 4Roomed.<ref name=":5" /> |
The restaurant specializes in modern interpretations of traditional African dishes, and especially South African dishes.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fr.africanews.com/2017/04/18/afrique-du-sud-un-chef-reinvente-la-nourriture-traditionnelle/|title=Afrique du sud : un chef réinvente la nourriture traditionnelle|last=|first=|date=April 4, 2017|website=Africanews|language=fr|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> 4Roomed serves a five-course tasting menu at a single communal table.<ref name=":5" /> Customers are approximately 30% local residents and the remainder tourists.<ref name=":5" /> ''[[Saveur]]'' called it "backyard fine dining."<ref name=":1" /> [[The Sunday Times (South Africa)|''The Sunday Times'']] said it was "disrupting the South African food scene with its re-imagined township cuisine that challenges notions of what constitutes fine dining."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/food/2018-09-13-khayelitsha-chef-gives-switzerland-a-taste-of-ekasi-cuisine/|title=Khayelitsha chef gives Switzerland a taste of eKasi cuisine|last=Zingithwa|first=Zola|date=September 13, 2018|website=The Sunday Times|language=en-ZA|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref> Mbalo-Mokoena also has a casual restaurant and carryout a few blocks from 4Roomed.<ref name=":5" /> |
||
Revision as of 14:30, 23 August 2019
Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena is the chef/owner of 4Roomed, also called 4Roomed eKasi Culture[1] or just eKasi,[2] in Khayelitsha township, thirty miles outside Cape Town, South Africa.[3][4]
Early life
Mbalo-Mokoena born in Gugulethu and grew up in Khayelitsha.[5][6] She worked as a dental hygienist for 17 years before opening the restaurant.[2]
Culinary career
Mbalo-Mokoena is self-taught.[6] The restaurant opened in 2014 as a food truck parked next to a shisa nyama[7] and three years later moved into a four-roomed house.[8] The restaurant is named for the four-room, four-family[4] bungalow typical in South Africa's eKasi (townships[9]).[8][10] Mbalo-Mokoena was raised in this type of home.[3] In the house where she grew up, "every room was a bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge."[4]
The restaurant specializes in modern interpretations of traditional African dishes, and especially South African dishes.[2][3][11] 4Roomed serves a five-course tasting menu at a single communal table.[4] Customers are approximately 30% local residents and the remainder tourists.[4] Saveur called it "backyard fine dining."[2] The Sunday Times said it was "disrupting the South African food scene with its re-imagined township cuisine that challenges notions of what constitutes fine dining."[12] Mbalo-Mokoena also has a casual restaurant and carryout a few blocks from 4Roomed.[4]
In 2014 Mbalo-Mokoena competed on the third season of MasterChef South Africa,[3][5][7] where she reached the top six.[2] In 2019 4Roomed was named in a combined project by Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure magazines as one of the 30 best restaurants in the world.[3] It is one of only three restaurants in Africa to make the list; the others are Johannesburg's Le Wine Chambre and The Ruined Garden in Fez, Morocco.[3]
Philosophy
Mbalo-Mokoena and her husband, who were living in the Cape Town suburb Melkbosstrand,[6] moved back to Khayelitsha because they "realized that by moving out of the townships when we got our qualifications and our degrees, we were actually depriving the economy of the townships."[4] They believed that when educated members of the community leave for the urban centers, "the kids have no one to look up to."[4]
She decided to open a restaurant because she felt that South Africa wasn't celebrating its own food heritage.[1]
Personal life
Mbalo-Mokoena trained as a dental technologist.[4] She is married and has children.[4][1] She is of Xhosa heritage and her husband, Sotho.[6]
References
- ^ a b c French, Laura (August 14, 2019). "Abigail Mbalo, Masterchef contestant and restaurateur". Travel Weekly. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d e Schwartz, Alyssa (November 5, 2018). "This Chef is Returning to Her Roots—Literally—With Her South African Restaurant". Saveur. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Rodell, Besha (August 20, 2019). "These Are the World's Best Restaurants: North America, South America, Africa and Middle East". Food & Wine. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j Yagoda, Maria (August 20, 2019). "The One Cape Town Restaurant You Can't Miss Isn't Exactly a Restaurant". Food & Wine. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Peterson, Tammy (March 8, 2017). "eKasi cuisine from Khayelitsha to the world". News24. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d Funk, Rebekah (December 12, 2018). "The Marvelous Mrs. Mbalo-Mokoena". Issuu. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b "Former MasterChef contestant's eatery reinvents traditional African food". CapeTalk. March 13, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Around the World in 80 Food Trucks. Lonely Planet. 2019. ISBN 9781788684965.
- ^ Pietilä, Tuulikki (2015-10-21). Contracts, Patronage and Mediation: The Articulation of Global and Local in the South African Recording Industry. Springer. ISBN 9781137562326.
- ^ "Promising tourism businesses rewarded in the Cape | IOL Travel". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Afrique du sud : un chef réinvente la nourriture traditionnelle". Africanews (in French). April 4, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Zingithwa, Zola (September 13, 2018). "Khayelitsha chef gives Switzerland a taste of eKasi cuisine". The Sunday Times. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help)