The Matatu Kitchen: New East African supper club

The Matatu Kitchen is Bristol’s new East African supper club, created by passionate foodies Edwina and Fozia who are eager to introduce the incredible flavours of Somali and Swahili food to the Bristol food scene.

The first supper club was met with great success, attracting 15 diners, who enjoyed a four-course feast in Bishopston. The next event on November 25th is sold out, but there are still spaces available for their Sunday lunch pop-up at Wilsons Restaurant on Chandos Road on Sunday, December 11th.

Edwina and Fozia create bold and authentic flavours, done in a non-traditional way. On their menus you’ll find plenty of spices such as cardamom, cumin and coriander, along with green chillies, coconut, mango, tamarind and more. Somali and Swahili food takes its influences from its trade history with the Middle East and India, but also more recent influences from colonialism.

Fozia says, “We’re super excited to be introducing our take on East African food to the lovely people of Bristol. There are estimated to be around 10,000 Somali people living in Bristol yet Somali food is unknown to the wider population. We believe this supper club is a great opportunity to introduce a new take on this cuisine to the city’s booming food scene.”

Fozia was born in Kuwait to a fierce Somali mother who is an amazing cook. Arriving in London as a refugee, food was her mother’s way of connecting the family to their Somali heritage. After graduating from Cambridge University where she found a love of craft ale and politics, Fozia worked on FGM prevention and support within her community and continued to work in the Charity/ Local Government sectors before moving to Bristol.

Edwina’s father was born in Nyeri, Kenya. Tales of his childhood drew Edwina there in her twenties where she met her husband – an amazing Kenyan acrobat with a voracious appetite for Swahili food. Always a keen cook and a devourer of new and exciting cuisines, she collected a lifetime’s worth of delicious recipes and techniques from family and friends from all over Kenya and Tanzania.

As well as thinking about the flavours, food provenance and sustainability are really important to The Matatu Kitchen, with a strong focus on using free-range meat and eggs. Sourcing as much of their food as possible as locally and ethically as they can is also important to the pair.

The Sunday lunch on December 11th costs £25 per head, and offers a fresh and modern take on traditional Swahili and Somali food. Dishes may include:

• Nyama choma – Kenya’s favourite dish of carefully marinated, smoked, and barbecued meat
• Bariis – a fragrant pilau rice
• Somali condiments such as Shigni and Bisbass – spiced Tamarind and Green Chilli sauces
• Moreish Mandazi – cardamom-spiced doughnuts served with chai caramel

Visit www.thematatukitchen.com to book your space.