Spice of Africa; Brick 'n' Mortar

It's a dream, a vision, really. That started when I was but 19 years of age. My good friend Moni Panesar, of Panesar Industries Limited, Kenya, and I went to a fabulous restaurant in downtown Nairobi, oh some 20+ years ago. At that age, I was still trying to figure out where my life was going to take me. I had recently moved out of my parents home in my village in Gachie, and was finally having a blast living single, which eventually landed me in Portland.......See my story here

The restaurant Moni and I went to, had a classic ambience, and great decor. To this date, even though the memory of the decor is intact, I cannot for the life of me, remember the restaurant's name! I just knew right then and there, that I wanted to ultimately own a restaurant such as that one. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand steps, begins with but one step. I have taken many steps, starting with my story at the above link.

The first step I took towards a cooking career was to teach cooking classes for Portland Community College for the Community Education Department. Thereafter, everything has grown very organically; the classes expanded to private classes, then came catering & special events, hosting dinners and pop-ups, farmers markets, food production and now here we are. We are starting out small. Our brick and mortar will be inside the soon to be opening Morrison Market. We will be among 6 or 7 other food restaurateurs, sharing this space. We hope that this will be our springboard to that restaurant I still envision from 30 years ago. I have faith that it will happen. You have been great supporters along the way, the last 10 years as we have grown from a series of cooking classes to now hiring a team that has the expertise to execute at farmers markets, street fairs, catering jobs to feed 330, and oh, so much more! Stay with us as the new chapter of our story unfolds.........and thank you with all of my heart for your continued support~

Wambui Machua

Chef/Owner, Spice of Africa