As usual, at the start of each year I set myself some goals to achieve, both personal and professional. Of course, as usual, I haven’t achieved even 50% of my goals – in fact, I don’t really care, I’ve decided not to worry about that any more. I still achieved some of them, the ones that were closest to my heart.
- To love me, be nice to me and listen to me more.
- To show and express my immense gratitude to life, my body, the planet, my family, my friends, the people who work with me and all the people who play a part in my development, whether directly or indirectly.
- To tell my children often that I love them and that I’m simply proud of them. Tell it to my life partner, my best friend too.
- Being true to my commitments.
- Do even more to help my planet.
- When I’m in Rwanda, to go and eat at Dieuveil Malonga’s.
Dieuveil is the chef who inspires me most in the world because I would have loved to do what he does. I feel connected to his concept and his vision because for me he is more than a chef, he is a genius of African cuisine, a passionate person and a leader because a leader is someone who dares to do something that is beyond him, that even scares him but that he does anyway, not for himself but for the good of the whole community.
Dieuveil is an inspiration because he shows that any passionate, hard-working young African can become what he dreams of being if he is given opportunities and he learns to seize them. To see for yourself, you’ll have to go and enjoy a unique culinary experience at his restaurant, Meza Malonga, in Kigali, Rwanda.
Thank you, Chef, for this unforgettable moment that will live forever in our memories. Thank you for your availability, your genius, your love of African culinary products, your altruism and your desire to pass on. Dieuveil trains people from underprivileged backgrounds and then employs them in his restaurant and as home chefs all over the world. What’s more, he doesn’t forget gender equality, as his students include both young men and women.
The restaurant only caters for around twenty customers, as the journey is incredibly complex and personalised.You will be tasting ten dishes. There is no menu here, no choice of dishes, it’s an adventure. But the chef adapts it to each person. In our case, there were two vegetarians in the group, so we were served dishes that are adapted to our diet and different from those of the others.
Each dish is the centrepiece of a whole ceremony. When it’s time to serve, the chef or sometimes another member of the team comes to describe the dish. Each time, one of the key ingredients of the dish is presented to us. Always a product of African origin. A spice, a seed or something else, often unknown to us. We are presented with the raw product, so we can smell it and touch it before tasting the dish.
The presentation of the dishes is also incredible. It’s hard to imagine how such finesse can be achieved. Here’s a sneak preview to whet your appetite!
Thank you again, Dieuveil, for your impact, your mission and your vision. I can’t wait to discover and experience your future projects, particularly the one currently being prepared in the Musanze region, still in Rwanda.
I’ll finish by saying to my friends and some of my subscribers: don’t listen to what people say, no, eating at Meza Malonga won’t cost you a fortune. Yes, it’s true that 95% of the population can’t afford it, but it won’t cost any more than eating in a trendy restaurant in Abidjan or in the West. You’re looking at around 50,000 FCFA per person with 2 glasses of wine, if you drink alcohol. And this is a truly gourmet restaurant. It’s an affordable price for a top-class culinary experience. To go to the Dieuveil restaurant is not just to eat, it’s to travel through different dishes and through the explanations of Dieuveil who puts in each dish at least one original and innovative product from a region of Africa, such as the black preserved lemon that comes to us from Egypt. He gets his condiments from various African countries, which I couldn’t remember all of, but if you want to find out more and you’re in Rwanda at the moment, take a trip to Dieuveil and tell me all about it.
For more information you can visit Meza Malonga restaurant official site.