Food of the Wabenzi

Evening in Nairobi is coffee time. Niece Tatu had thoughtfully provided me with a list of her favourite cafes in town after telling me in a long phone conversation how much she misses them. So one evening, when FONT piled all of us in the car and drove to a cafe which was number two on his daughter’s list, I was a little undecided about whether to send her photos. On one hand she loved the place, on the other, she missed it.

I looked at the display of the cakes on offer. We had developed confidence in the bakers of Nairobi right from our first experience in a cafe. So I was quite tempted by the tarts and macaroons. Lunch had been heavy and a little late, so did I dare?

I did not. The craving for something sweet was easily satisfied by a pain au chocolat with my coffee. I’ve had a soft spot for these flaky delights ever since the days when I learnt to knock, very late after a long night, on the back window of a bakery in Geneva and pay for an illegal pain au chocolat (illegal, because bakeries are not allowed to transact business out of hours) even as the morning’s batches of croissants and PaC were being baked. I’m sure that bit of illegality has been stopped decisively long ago in rule-bound Switzerland, but my love of this breakfast pastry has extended right across the day.

I asked for a few of the nicer looking pastries to be packed up for breakfast. They certainly explained why this cafe was high on Niece Tatu’s list. I was happy that I did not have too many days in Nairobi, because I was going to put on a few kilos if I was to explore her full list.