The phrase ‘local is lekker’ flowed off Radisson Blu Zambia executive chef, Darrly Freeman‘s lips on Friday night as he feted guests to delicious local cuisines.
He was right. Local is always lekker.
The testimony is in the huge numbers of people that flock to the famous ‘matebeto’ restaurants in Lusaka’s Thornpark every lunch hour.
Zambians have a great love for local dishes such as bondwe and Chibwabwa, and being able to sample such cuisines in a five-star setup such as the Radisson Blu, is set to make it all the more delicious.
The Radisson Blu has tapped into this love by launching the new Chuma Grill menu and restaurant on Mondays.
In an interview, Radisson Blu general manager Marius Wolmarans said the restaurant would serve Zambian cuisines in a comfortable and relaxed environment.
“We want every guest coming into the country to have a real taste of the various Zambian foods, without having to leave our hospitable and warm environment,” Wolmarans said.
Interestingly, the restaurant is named after one of the famous explorer, David Livingstone’s helpers, Chuma.
Chuma was renowned for his hospitality to the explorer and is said to have taken great care of the explorer, especially in the last days of his life.
And chef Freeman said the restaurant will also boost local business as most of the foods are sourced locally, especially from the Tuesday Market in Kabwata, Lusaka.
Chef Freeman is the winner of the Master-cook Zambia 2014 cooking competition.
(Daily Mail)
Make the pricing affordable to most Zambians don’t look for foreigners start with locals
Sontapo !!! Where was PF president to unveil this Chuma restaurant?
Why can’t the slogan be in a Zambian language?. Lekker is a racist language, Afrikaans are not nice people, remember Apartheid anyone!
last time i went out for traditonal cusine at Fairveiw hotel in Lusaka the first thing i noticed was dead cockroaches in the beans and dried fish stew.
The only kitchen i trust is my own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
last time i went out for traditonal cusine at Fairveiw hotel in Lusaka the first thing i noticed was d e a dead c o c k r o a c h e s in the beans and dried fish stew.
The only kitchen i trust is my own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
last time i went out for traditonal cusine at Fairveiw hotel in Lusaka the first thing i noticed was dead c o c k r o a c h e s in the beans and dried fish stew.
The only kitchen i trust is my own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Local is lekker” is not a racist word. Please lets move forward the Afrikaners are changing people. You always want bemba words everywhere as though its only bembas that exist in Zambia. You ve become the racist and tribalists yourselves. Why do you want to call the place matebeto? or cibwabwa dish yet we ve 73 tribes in Zambia who call this dish different names. I don’t like the bembalisation going on in Zambia. About Fairview hotel comments, yes it could be true, the management of the environment in Zambia is questionable especially when it comes to cleaning the surroundings, collecting rubbish etc. Zambians need to improve themselves other than criticising the investors who are trying to market the country. ViVa Mr. Marius Wolmarans. Continue with the good work. Don’t listen to…
Using my grest grandfather’s name without consulting me is not good business ethics
This is a good move to reserve Monday night as an Ethnic Night to showcase Zambia’s Traditional Food. As most know hotels are really for tourists when it comes to the tourism world. When we encourage locals is during low season to make up for when tourists don’t travel. Making it affordable for the average Zambian as mentioned by someone is wise because domestic tourism amounts more that international tourism. This can produce the much needed revenue if done properly and marketed well. Focusing more on Mother’s and Father’s Day would be ideal too.
Local is ‘Lekker’….also not very keen of the use of the Afrikaans word in the context of promoting local dishes. In my case I have nothing against Afrikaans…I don’t think they are all racist as an earlier blogger implies. Nor am I proposing that it should be a bemba name to be used. What of ‘proudly Zambian’ as opposed to ‘local is lekker’?