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How Chef Lorna Built a Global Culinary Brand from South Africa to America · Earn Your Leisure

• 0:01
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  Speaker 2: All right, guys, welcome back, special episode of Earn Yalisha.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: We're back home for sure, for sure, like we haven't
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: met home so long.
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  Speaker 2: Chef Lorna, Yes, thank you for joining.
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  Speaker 4: Us, Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
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  Speaker 3: We're happy to have you.
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  Speaker 5: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Originally from South Africa, Ballerine to turn news broadcast to
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: turn celebrity chef.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, I lived a long line just starting. I'm just
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  Speaker 4: getting started.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, appreciate it. Connected with us that investments.
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  Speaker 3: We appreciate you. It was amazing.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Did you try anything?
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  Speaker 3: I did have something?
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  Speaker 4: What did you enjoy?
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  Speaker 1: So it's weird because I had noodles, I had I'm
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  Speaker 1: not supposed to eat a lamb chop, but I did.
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  Speaker 3: I tasted it.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't eat it, and then there was a mixture
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  Speaker 1: because there was another chef there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I was like, all right, I'm not I'm
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: not sure who's this whose? I want to say who?
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  Speaker 3: But everything was good.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: That's a good thing.
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  Speaker 2: YEA tasted it, but you didn't eat it?
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  Speaker 3: No, no, no, said I didn't eat the whole lamb chop.
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  Speaker 3: I tasted it. You vegetarian, pesbetarian? Yeah. Yeah, but my
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  Speaker 3: wife was like, it's delicious. I gotta try it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Well, thank you for joining us.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: So let's have this conversation. You know, as far as
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  Speaker 2: you're building your yeah, chef empire, but talk about the
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: backstory as far as where it started. South Africa, a
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  Speaker 2: country that we've we've heard so much about from so
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  Speaker 2: many different angles and aspects. What was your experience in
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  Speaker 2: South Africa and what made you leave to come to America.
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  Speaker 5: So South Africa's home I'm sure you guys know what
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: home is, like that's where your heart is. But you know,
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  Speaker 5: I let's let's wind back a little. So I actually
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: started off as a ballet dancer for the South African
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  Speaker 5: Ballet Theater, became a soloist, was the first chancer of
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  Speaker 5: color to ever do a lead role, so don Q
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  Speaker 5: Nightcracker Swansea, and I guess after a couple of years,
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  Speaker 5: I was like, well, this was interesting. You know, I
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: kind of wanted to expand my horizons and do something
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  Speaker 5: else because I was like, I mean, I'm gonna probably
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: do another lead role, probably get uglier toes, and I
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  Speaker 5: was like, you know what, I'm done. I resigned and
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  Speaker 5: went into television. So worked for one of the top
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: lifestyle magazine shows in South Africa. So traveled around the
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  Speaker 5: world doing jun kets, interviewing people, eating a lot of food,
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  Speaker 5: which was absolutely amazing, and I guess that's where I
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: kind of like fell in love with food. From there,
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  Speaker 5: I remember going to Italy on a brand trip and
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  Speaker 5: just like loving everything. We went to, like Palma where
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: they make Palma ham with the mad Palmesan. It was
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  Speaker 5: just like insane and I just remember coming back going
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: I really love food and I kind of like want
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  Speaker 5: to pursue it, And then did Mastershift and then got
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  Speaker 5: into the top six, and then when I left the
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  Speaker 5: competition dramatically crying like you know, I was like, this
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  Speaker 5: is what I want to do, and this is the creer.
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  Speaker 1: We just can't like breeze over the master Shifting. I
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: felt like you were going to breeze out. We can't
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  Speaker 1: breeze over that. So I mean, from TV to eating
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  Speaker 1: the foods, what happens in between? Do you decide that
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to study culinary or did you go to
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  Speaker 1: school where you trained or was like some people just
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  Speaker 1: naturally give it at this Well I am.
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  Speaker 5: That part, but I was just super hungry as a
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  Speaker 5: ballet dance and I thought, you know, I'm just going
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  Speaker 5: to eat for the rest of my life.
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  Speaker 4: So that's why I decided. Not kidding, that's no reason, but.
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  Speaker 5: I think I went to culinary school after Mastership all
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  Speaker 5: of like three months with it. No, yeah, I went
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  Speaker 5: there without it, you know, And so I decided, Okay,
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  Speaker 5: well this is what I want to pursue, so let
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  Speaker 5: me like hold my skill and get better. I hated
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  Speaker 5: chef school, like I just I was like, I don't
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  Speaker 5: want to read about how to make a soufle.
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  Speaker 4: I want to go and make a sufle. And so
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: at the time, because I'd.
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  Speaker 5: Worked in television, I had quite a few friends who
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  Speaker 5: were who owned restaurants, and so I was like, Hey,
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: can I come to you and little chop a little onion,
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  Speaker 5: do a little something and kind of hone my skills.
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  Speaker 5: And that's where I kind of got my grounding and
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  Speaker 5: it was a great it's still a mental tory. Was
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  Speaker 5: just really great and kind of like saying, okay, cool,
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  Speaker 5: you could come in and just learn as much as
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  Speaker 5: you can. And so from there that LI into like
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  Speaker 5: the TV shows and then kind of like it grew
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  Speaker 5: from that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So when was the transition to America.
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  Speaker 5: The transition to America was always in the pipeline for me.
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  Speaker 5: I think I always knew like this is you know,
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  Speaker 5: if you want to particularly from an entertainment perspective, whether
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  Speaker 5: it was like a cooking show, whatever it was. Media wise,
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  Speaker 5: for me at the time, America was like the hot
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  Speaker 5: like this is where you if you if you if
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  Speaker 5: you want to make it big, even if it was
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  Speaker 5: just one state, it's going to be much easier to
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  Speaker 5: kind of you know, get into the continent, get into London,
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  Speaker 5: get into the UAE, wherever you want to take your brand.
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  Speaker 5: And so in twenty twenty three, I, you know, did
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  Speaker 5: the great move to New York and I kicked my butt.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: Oh gosh, it was so hot at the city and
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  Speaker 4: it was like, you know, you either New York or
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: you're not.
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  Speaker 5: It took me two years to realize, brutally bruised that
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  Speaker 5: I'm not in New Yorker and I'm okay with it
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  Speaker 5: that I'm not in New Yorker. And then went back
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  Speaker 5: to South Africa and kind of thought about like what
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: I was going to do with my life and kind
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: of rebranding. I launched a brand of condiments that are
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  Speaker 5: available in South Africa and we're bringing them here to
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  Speaker 5: the United States. Have a cookware line as well, which
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  Speaker 5: is available on h sands, so here in America as well.
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  Speaker 5: Kind Of like we looked at the kind of like
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  Speaker 5: where you're going to go, Laura, you know, like you're
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: going to stay in South Africa, You're going to try
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: and find another home, so to speak, You're going to
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  Speaker 5: try another state. And then I remember Brand South Africa
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  Speaker 5: had an event that was happening in Atlanta, and it
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  Speaker 5: was my first time coming to Atlanta, and when I arrived,
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  Speaker 5: it was just like a this is it? You know.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I just felt like it felt like home, you know.
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  Speaker 5: And I guess like we're speaking earlier, just like the
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  Speaker 5: black excellence, the Southern hospitality, you know in New York,
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  Speaker 5: like if something happened to you, people just on.
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  Speaker 4: Their phone, just keep walking, you know. In the South,
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  Speaker 4: people like, hey, how you doing. I'm good, I'm great, you.
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  Speaker 5: Know, and then have a conversation. And so I love that,
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  Speaker 5: you know, Luba Driv would be like, how you doing?
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  Speaker 2: You good?
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  Speaker 4: I'm like, whoa? People still existed some kind of humanity
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  Speaker 4: in them, you know.
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  Speaker 5: And so I think for me that resonated with me
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  Speaker 5: because South Africa is very similar to at Land, well
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  Speaker 5: Johannesburg in particular.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: What was the lessons learned from coming to New York? Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: when you think fine dining, a lot of people think
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  Speaker 1: New York think you had it as your number one place,
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  Speaker 1: number one. So it's a lot of okay, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of competition. I mean it is the home of Michelin
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  Speaker 1: stars and all these things. What did you learn coming here?
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  Speaker 1: Before you said, yeah, I got to go back to
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  Speaker 1: South Africa.
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  Speaker 4: I learned how to live smarter, smarter.
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  Speaker 5: I think like New York teaches you how to hustle,
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  Speaker 5: like it's like, but it's still on another level. You know.
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  Speaker 5: It's funny because Joeburgaus will go, oh, you know, if
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: you've lived in Joba, you can live.
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  Speaker 4: In you in the world.
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  Speaker 5: Nope, that hold that thought. If you've lived in New York,
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  Speaker 5: you can live anywhere in the world.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 5: I think if anything, you taught me to differentely live
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  Speaker 5: smarter like you know, yeah, like hustle, like a hustle lifestyle,
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  Speaker 5: which you.
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  Speaker 4: Know, I was like, it's tough, you know, I don't
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  Speaker 4: live like this like this the New York. What the
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  Speaker 4: hell am I doing here? But anyway, I survived. You know,
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  Speaker 4: I'm alive here right exactly exactly exactly.
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  Speaker 2: So you wrote a cookbook.
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  Speaker 4: I wrote a cookbook. Will Celebrate with Lorna won a
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  Speaker 4: couple of.
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  Speaker 2: Awards, international awards.
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  Speaker 5: International Awards, Gomar World Cookbook Award, Based Lifestyle Book, and
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  Speaker 5: Base something else I can't remember, but.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that book was.
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  Speaker 5: You know, I think your first book is like a
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  Speaker 5: good pr exercise because you're still kind of navigating the space.
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  Speaker 5: I think as a chef, I've also kind of like changed,
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  Speaker 5: so like it would be, you know, my second cookbook
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  Speaker 5: would be completely different to the one that I had.
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  Speaker 4: But yeah, it was a lot of learnings.
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  Speaker 5: It was kind of like trying to find my dentity
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  Speaker 5: as you know, what am I trying to say about food?
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  Speaker 5: Who am I as a ship? How do I fit in?
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  Speaker 5: I didn't go to the traditional route like everybody else,
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  Speaker 5: did you know? I just caught you know, if one
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: went left, that's right, wanna if one went left and
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  Speaker 5: I go right or whichever way? But yeah, I did.
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  Speaker 2: I did do the cookbook, so we're propelled it to,
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  Speaker 2: you know, have the international awards and that level of spotlight.
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  Speaker 5: I think for me, like I try and move away
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: from like what is your cuisine?
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  Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
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  Speaker 5: Like I just want to I just want to eat good.
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  Speaker 5: I want to cook good. You know, it doesn't matter
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: what the cuisine is. It doesn't matter, you know, if
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: you know, it doesn't have to be Jamaican, it doesn't
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  Speaker 5: have to be obviously the roots of my food is
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  Speaker 5: very South African, but like I mean, I love Japanese food,
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  Speaker 5: you know, and so like my flavor profile is always
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: like a little mirror.
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  Speaker 4: And pond Zu you know, u zoo ginger girl.
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  Speaker 5: You know.
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  Speaker 4: So I just my thing is like, can you cook?
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  Speaker 2: So what do you specialize that?
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  Speaker 4: I don't have.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Anything in my min When you said who you are
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: as a chef, I'm thinking, who are you as a chef?
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: I think as a chef for me, I'd like to
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  Speaker 5: say that I like to create food that tells a story, right,
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  Speaker 5: that reminds us all how connected we are through food
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  Speaker 5: and so at the base of it is very South African,
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  Speaker 5: but it has a very much.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: Global appeal, you know.
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: I mean, if I think about it, I always say, like,
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: it's a magrinya in South Africa, right, It's a baigne
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: in France. It's a donut in America it's puff puff
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: and Ghana and Nigeria, it's the same thing.
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: It's a thing that you fry. It's a dough that
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: you fry.
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: It's crunchy on the outside, it's soft and fluffy on
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: the inside. The methods are completely different, but it's the
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: same thing. We have.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: We have a puff puff before, yeah.
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: Which is similar to a donut, right, in terms of
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: like it's crunch on the outside, it's soft on the inside.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: You open it up, it's nice and fluffy. You know.
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: Some people like it's sweet, some people have its savory.
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: So it's the same thing. And so I think for me,
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: who are you as a shift?
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: It's just that.
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  Speaker 5: Storytelling through through food and culture, just really showing how
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: much was so similar in what we're eating. And I
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: don't know how it all affected us in the slave
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: trade or whatever, but it clearly.
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: You know, it's linked to some somehow.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: You know, it's barabaca in Mexico, it's Charclow and South
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: Africa traded beef in America.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: It's the same thing.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: So what Okay, we have acceded this question for different people,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: but I want to ask a different twist on it
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: from a traditional food standpoint, because there's different places have
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: traditional food, like obviously some sheet that's the traditional food
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: in Japan, Creoles the traditional food to New Orleans. The
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: list goes on, what's your five places in the world
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: that have the best traditional food?
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: Okay, So definitely Thai.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: I am so into Tay food at the moment, love
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: the flavors, bold and saying incredible amazing. I would definitely
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: say South Africa, Cape Town.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: What kind of food is native to South Africa.
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: So it's different. So caps is very European. I'm not
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: gonna lie. It's like very very European French influences. But
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: you have like chefs who are kind of getting finding
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: their identity within who they are as Africans or South
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: Africans and adding kind of like a French twist to
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: giving it that fine dining element. Right, But you'll get like,
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: maybe you know, sampan beans are very South African, but
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: I like how you know, they'll elevate it to something
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: else and it looks different, but it tastes like samp
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: and beans, which is what I like to do. Right,
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: So yeah, so I said too, Tie said South. I
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: definitely say Japanese because I love Japanese food, So that
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: would be the third for me.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: I'd say the fourth would be.
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: I don't know, it's because I'm craving it today, but
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: I'd say Indians. I know, but but it's really good, right,
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: Like Indian food in London is really good.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: You know, Indian food and Durban is very good in
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: New York and in New York is very good.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: You know, earners, what's up? Look?
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  Speaker 5: So yeah, I'm not big on Italian foods, Like I'm okay,
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: you know, then eating Italian foods, you know, and then
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: I would probably say, sure, that's a hard one between
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: Nigerian just because of the diversity of the food and
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: the ingredients in Nigeria's I feel like Nigeria on its
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: own is like just a hub just because there's so
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: many different cultures and ethnicities and it's it's just wild.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: But I say that.
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: Between that and Ethiopian food, I definitely say those are my.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Yea, you left you left Jamaican off, but I'll forgive you.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Well. The funny thing is that like Jamaican food is
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: not huge in South Africa, it's huge in America or
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: the Caribbean.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: You know, you haven't had a lot.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: No, I've had no no, no, I've had like jerk chicken.
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: I've had like great oxtail. I've had you know, rice
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: and beans. No, no, no, I'm good beans, peas and peas,
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: you know what I mean. So from that perspective, you know, yeah,
• 16:02
  Speaker 5: actually Jamaican, I thought the energy. Yeah yeah, I was like, oh,
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: you know, I've had some really good oustale in actually
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: New York.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: New Orleans, creo.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: I've never been to New Orleans. That needs to.
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: I that has to That's on my bucket list, you know,
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: along with Tokyo. But you know, let's also travel the continents.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Travel with you.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: So you said one of the things you learned being
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: in New York was to be smarter. Right, we're smarter.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: So I want you to to talk to us about
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: laundress pantry because it's all about being budget friendly. I
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: know when you go out, it's tough. New York City
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: is to be a budget friendly. But talked to us
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: about lunches pantry.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: It's funny because that shows stemmed from me living here
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: for two years and then having to be savvy about
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: my food and how I ate and what I bought
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: and where I bought it, and how I you know,
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: because I still like to eat good, but like I'm
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: not spending you know, I don't go out. Well, when
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: I lived here, I didn't go out like every night,
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: you know. Now that I'm here on like a little holiday, I'm.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: Like, where are we going? Which miss do we try?
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: You know, it's like completely different, right, But like when
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: I was here, it was just like, how do you
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: take basic ingredients and like elevate them? Because I still
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: want to eat good, but I don't want to spend
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: too much money, right, And so Lorna's pantry was literally
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: birth from that. Yes, it's showcased in South Africa and
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: I guess it's on different airlines across the continent. But
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: it was just like, how do I maximize my ingredients
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: with a very small budget? And so literally that show
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: was a product of how much I suffered in this city.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: I'm kidding, I mean just attached, just a little sufferer,
• 17:41
  Speaker 5: you know. And yeah, and it did really, really well
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: and we're working on season two, so super excited about that.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: How receptive were people to it? Right?
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: A lot of people try to find restaurants that they like,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: but they can't afford how do people.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: Responsible the money?
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: You say, budget friendly people are like sign me up,
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: you know, yeah, because you know food is expensive, good
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: quality food is expensive. But you want to be able
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: to feed your family. You want to be able to
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: feed yourself, and you wanted to make financial sense, you know,
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: like not all of us can have like Cavier every Saturday,
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: you know, or every month or every week, and we
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: like it.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so what's the business of being a celebrity chef? Like,
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: how okay, what's the business behind it? I know, you
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: can have a restaurant, you can do catering, you can
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: write a book, but from your your pathway that you're
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: on right now, right building a business? Like, what's your
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: pathway that that you followed so far?
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: So I like to say I'm creative, but I'm very
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: entrepreneurial at the same time, like I love them.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: You know, back then.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: You were either just a creative or you're just an entrepreneur.
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: And I feel like for me and for most entrepreneurs
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: or some I guess and you guys may understand that.
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: But I'm creative and I'm very entrepreneurial. So kind of
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: building a celebrity brand for me or celebrity chef brand.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: It's kind of owned the ecosystem completely. So it started
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: with you know, you do private events, launching the Subba
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: Club in November, So that's one avenue, and then that's
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: obviously the Cookway line that's another. You know, I want
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: you to get into your kitchen and have everything launer.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: So whether you're chopping that's a Launa product, or a
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: cutting board that's a Launa product. It's a little spice
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: that you're using, it's a Lona product. And so for me,
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: you know, I kind of look at it holistically like that.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: And you know, as you know, my brand continues to
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: go in the US, it's you know, hopefully that all
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: those ecosystems will kind of be filtered in you know,
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: and then obviously everybody wants a good TV show, which
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: I'm already doing in South Africa.
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: I just need just let a manifest within this country.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Show.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah TV shows, you know, yeay.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: I mean I'm already doing like stuff with like b
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: Bobby Flay and Chopped and all these other things and
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: you know, cooking segments on the Today Show. But you know,
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: you want, you want to own your own stuff, and
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: I think you know, even when I got back from
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: New York. One of the things was like, Okay, how
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: do I start owning my own stuff? So Laura's pantry
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: was through my production house, and we produced it, we
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: packaged it, and we sold it to a SABC. You know.
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: But I think more than anything, I think that's it's
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: just about building a sustainable brand that would live long
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: beyond me being alive. But yeah, I think it's it's
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: really just owning the different ecosystems when it comes to
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: the culinary arts.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: What I mean, obviously successful in South Africa, the US
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: obviously makes a.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: Lot of sense.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Were there other parts of the world that you said,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: okay before I go to the US, or maybe other
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: countries in Africa, like hey, let's spread the brand here,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: or it was hey, once we become big here and
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: we've established some of the things we want, we're going
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: back to us. Was that always the mindset?
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: It was always just America?
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: You know.
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: I think I dabbled within the UK for a while
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: because you know.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: The pound is nice, you know, but then but it
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: was just it was just it's always been America for me.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: You know, maybe for somebody else that might be something else.
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: You know, and you know, I guess I've been carving
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: at this journey slowly, and you know, you start seeing
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: like a few things that start happening, and you're like, okay,
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: maybe you know the sacrifice is starting to pay off somewhat,
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: you know, because it is. It's a sacrifice for me
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: from your family and anyone's like, so you don't have
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: a single family member in the US.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: I'm like, no, I don't, you know.
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: It's literally just me and myself and I just carving this.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: You are the team that part. Really Yeah, So I mean.
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: Even if I don't have a cousin, I don't have.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Really no one. That's pretty impressive.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: I don't know. It's stupid, it's stupid and crazy.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: All those things can be true. So how are you
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: How are you navigating? Right?
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Obviously we obviously you were part of the investments. How
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: are you finding out about these events? How are you
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: finding about openings for restaurants? Like you're navigating this all
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: about yourself?
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think for me.
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: One of the things that you know, my friends always
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: say Lorna's ambition knows no boundaries, Like I will ask,
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: you know, until you tell me to leave you alone.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: Or stop an like stop irritating you.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: But I don't.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: I don't have the fear to ask a question, you know,
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: or ask for not so much. I guess help or
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: you know, I don't mind putting myself out there, you know,
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: because I have nothing to lose. Right.
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: You could either be like, no, we.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: Don't want a friend vest versus course not readly our vibe,
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: or yeah it sounds like something.
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: Cool, you know, we could feature her.
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: And then you know, you go out and you deliver
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: your best, and you do over and above what you
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: are required to do right, and then you hopefully get
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: back and you know, the check is a little bigger,
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: you know, this trustworthiness because you know, one of the
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: things that I'd learned, I guess from New York as
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: opposed to South Africa and South Africa, like there are
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: people that.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: Can call like to get stuff done like real.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Quick here, like every emails hi, by way of introduction,
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: my name is she flor you know, every email. But
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: you know, that's that's how you build a brand, that's
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: how you start, you know. And yeah, and I'm still navigating,
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: but I you know, I think I'm on the right
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: path club. Yeah, so I'm very very excited about the
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: supper club. It's called akaya dining. Ekaya means home and
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: for me, that's what I want food to feel like
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: that you're coming to my home and we're having a
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: great conversation. Maybe we'll do another one next year, you know,
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: when you guys do invest fits, no pressure because now
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: it's live, you know, and I love intimate food spaces,
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: you know. I want you to pass the dish to
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: the next person, have a conversation about it. I want
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: you to go, oh, this reminds me of my Auntie's
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: colored greens, but she's just added a little cream, you know,
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: it's a little different. And so the whole concept of
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: akaya is bringing people around a table and wanting them
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: to feel.
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: Like they're in my home.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: It's a restaurant, it's a supper club. What is the
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: supper club?
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: A supper club is just, I guess the cooler way
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: of saying, you're running like a pop up experience or
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: a restaurant that feels like home, like a little intimate,
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: more intimate more what's the word?
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: Not every day.
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: So it's a start, it's something that you becomes what's
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: the English word, Like you want to go to you know,
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: like I think if you had Investmas every single weekend,
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: it would lose.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: It's like, so, how all right, so when it opens,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: how long is it going to be open for?
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: So basically, when it opens, you go the supper club
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: is open for these dates, book out these dates. And
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: then I also think, like, you still have a life
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: because you're not because restaurants are tough, right, And I
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: think for me, as I'm building my brand in the city,
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: well in Atlanta, it just made sense to start with
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: a supper club, build up the brand, build up the name,
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: and also that kind of like, oh my gosh, it's
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: coming back.
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: You know, it's you.
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: We had such a great time, we want to go back.
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: As opposed to it's open constantly and it's just a machine,
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: which I guess some people, for some people works well,
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: but for me that's not what I'm Is it.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Limited time as far as one week or is it
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: limited as far as it's only open on weekends.
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: So you'll say for this month, let's say when the
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: month of We'll just use any month.
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: The month of May.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: The super Club is open Friday Saturdays for the month
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: of May. These are the dates people book it's only
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: like limited to twenty thirty people, so it's really a
• 25:26
  Speaker 5: small number. It's a premium price, so you know it's
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: a little pricey, but it's an experience, right, and then
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: you do another one, so you know, May, then you
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: go June, I'm gonna do These are the days that
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: they're open.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Are you changing cities East time?
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: Definitely changing cities.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: US time, So it could be in La.
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: Could be Miami, it could be definitely coming back to
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: New York because you know, feel a little stronger, like, you.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Know, I'm ready to so let's stay. Let's stay on
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: this if you've got your repsent for a while. Right,
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: this is a business model chef Calvin. You heard him before?
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: No?
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: Maybe?
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Uh he won?
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: What did he wins?
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: He won? No, like the one of these TV shows Chopped.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he was on Chop and.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I interviewed him early, early, early, but that was his thing.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: And this was like even during the before, the before
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: he was doing weekend pop ups in the Bronx actually, and.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: That's why he started in the apartments.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: And then it was like an elevated experience in the Bronx.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: It was the whole thing. But okay, so this is
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: a business model. So you're renting out what kind of
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: venues is this?
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: So the current venue we're looking at as.
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: An existing restaurant that's vacant. No, so it operates from
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: Wednesdays and.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Then the restaurant is not open on the weekend.
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: It's no, it's opened Wednesdays to Sundays from seven am
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: till three so the so in the evening, So you're.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Going to take over the existing restaurant at night. Yeah, okay,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: So it's like when say Less went to they go
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: to the All Star Games and it's to say Less
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: pop up pretty much.
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and your overheads are lower, so you're not paying
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: staff all the time, but you know.
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: You're able to.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: So that's a business model that you all Right, So
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: you like that business model because it's less pressure as
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: far as having a lease and you have to stay
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: here no matter what. And it's a scarcity model too, right,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: where it's like you got if you don't get in
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: these couple of days, then it's over as opposed to
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I got all a month to go to the rest
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: of Yeah, exactly.
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: And I think once you build it around like good branding, marketing,
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: all that stuff, it is it's I mean they supper
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: clubs that I think we're talking offline. That's like it's
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: fully booked till next year January, and I'm trying to see,
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: like somebody canceled if I could go, and they have
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: a Michelin, you know, and so it just makes sense
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: and you're able to get I think for me as
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: a ship, you're able to you know, get the recognition
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: you want, whether it's a Michelin or a James Beard
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: or you know.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: And you come in off of the like they hit
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: the lake a license.
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: You use their legal license, so you don't need necessary
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: because you're not selling liquor.
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: You know, it's almost like an.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Event, so it's kind of complimentary in a sense. So
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: this is a almost like a pop up model that
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: just runs continuously.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: So how how do you choose the menu?
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Because that obviously can cut into profits, right if you
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: have different menu items. It's already a premium ticket, but
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: you want to make sure that the margins and how
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: are you choosing it?
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: I think the menu has to be different every time
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: because you're you know, you're selling a different experience. I
• 28:34
  Speaker 5: think getting a Somali air or a wine partner who
• 28:37
  Speaker 5: comes on and it's a wine pairing. I think that's one.
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: But differently, the menu has to be different. You know
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: that's that's a selling point, right you. Whether you're saying
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: you're doing a fusion between southern Southern African food and
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: and food from the South, you know that's a play
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: on something. I think if you said if I I
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: would love to do one that was like South African Japanese,
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: I think that would be like an interesting fusion and
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: so and then also collaborate with other shifts, right do
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: you kind of like experiences where you're both curating something
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: really delicious and amazing and and you're still gathering.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: People, but it's set. It's a set menu of like changes. No, no, no,
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: what I'm saying, Like, you have this pop up on Saturday, right,
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: you're doing the Japanese Jamaican fusion.
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: Okay, look at you, we're just speaking.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: You're going to cook three different dishes. But those are
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: the three different dishes. It's not like you could just
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: go whatever. It's not like a restaurant.
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: No, no, the six course meal.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: Course, the next prop.
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: Until the next pop up where you're selling a different
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: kind of experience.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: And then if you have a wine partner, and then
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: it's like okay, like tonight we're going to be drinking this.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: Wine my best my best friend of the show.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: Yes, Ingrid exactly. I love Ingrid and that.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: Wine is good, airline is good.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: So the price associated with this is it just the
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: venue and obviously you get in the food and then
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: hopefully we can get sponsorships and yeah.
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: So in the past when I used to do it
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: in New York, these were funded by Brand South Africa,
• 30:16
  Speaker 5: and so it would be like Brand South Africa and
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: Ammarula for example, I'm living a liqueur that's South African
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: and so you know that model works because you know,
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: you all your costs are covered essentially, right, And I
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: think once you've built up the brand, you've got great marketing,
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: everybody kind of.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Wins, you know, and then how much do they pay
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: to get it?
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's weird. And in Atlanta they've been one eighty five.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: In New York two fifty for.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: A ticket for one ticket one ticket. Okay, yeah, so
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: if you too, that's five hundred, five hundred dollars day.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Shouty stop it, let's not start this.
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: What are we starting now?
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: We got a lot of flag over this.
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: Let me hear it.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: What do you think that? What do you think a
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: reasonable amount of money is to spend on a first date?
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: On a first date, on the first date.
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: You are spending what do you think I mean, I'll
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: probably like do caviar. I'll probably do like the best
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: wine I got, like eight hundred.
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: Dollars pounds not rands.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: In caviar in the first date. Yes, yes, that's che
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: if you go to a restaurant that does not have cavea.
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: If I'm picking the restaurant, I'm going to make sure
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: that the restaurant is caveat.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: Oh you picked the restaurant, Yeah, I.
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: Mean you'd say, oh, what kind of cuisine do you like?
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: Then I'd be like, oh, you know, is it Michelin?
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: You know michel that playing you know.
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: So one of my favorites are X y Z and
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: what I love about restaurants in Atlanta the caviar service
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: and most of them.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: So, so eight hundred dollars, So you're saying eight hundred
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: dollars is a reasonable amount of money.
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: I mean, like a really good bottle of wine, it's
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: like two fifty off the rip.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we can go Cokie that shout, I mean they
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: got caveat on the nuggets?
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: Does that? It does come okay in there, But it's
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: really good cookie.
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: Is it here?
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I gotta try it out. Popper caves like the
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: fake stuff.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: It's real that ship than cave.
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: I love. I love. I love good food.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: All types of food, all types of Are you a
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: food snob A bit? Yeah, I was gonna say I'm
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: a food snob, but I appreciate hole in the walls.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: That's good. Like I can go to a random Indian
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: reference as a hole in the wall.
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: That is my vibe.
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: That is I will never go to the place that
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: everybody goes to, you know, just it's not it's not
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: for me. But I love holding the wall as much
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: as I love a good little little.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: Hole in the world.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Might not have the cavia, they might not have carry out,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: but they got they're gonna have.
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: A lot of time. Like holding the war spots.
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: Indian spots are sometimes holding the world, but they're like
• 33:02
  Speaker 5: an Indian.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: I went to a few Indian restaurants in New York
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: that randomly just walked in. Yeah, and it was like
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: the best of the best. I said five hundred dollars
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: that was your inflation, and people they got really mad
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: about that, kind of.
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: About five hundred dollars.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, like they're really mad about that.
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: I mean, if you think about it, like a tasting menu.
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: I was looking at some tasting menus today in New
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: York it's like two eighty five.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: You know, you also have to take in mind that
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: you're speaking from an experience of New York City. I
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: guess America. Most of the people in America don't live
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: in New York City. That is true Miami.
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, and have never tasted Jesus.
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: I mean they've had like other things.
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, chicken nuggets, fries, fried chickens. It's great. Things of
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: that sort is important.
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: No, I love them.
• 33:55
  Speaker 5: It's like it's like in South Africa, it's like seven colors, right,
• 33:58
  Speaker 5: seven colors is like seven different elements on a plate.
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: Or some people, young people call it several colors, but
• 34:04
  Speaker 5: you know, I'm an eighties baby.
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: We call it.
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: Seven colors, and it's seven different elements on a plate
• 34:09
  Speaker 5: and reminds me of Southern food because it's like a
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: rice protein, whether it's like a stew or it's like
• 34:16
  Speaker 5: grilled chicken. And then we have spinach that we cream,
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: spinach that we love. You guys have colored greens. Then
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: you guys have yms. We have butternut or what's the
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: other thing, or pumpkin, but it's.
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: Not as sweet and syrupy. I've never had food hands.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: They gave me the South Africa as well.
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: Eat with your hands, I mean, that's that's what's up.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: You know, I didn't know because I'm left handed, so
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: I was eating with my left hand, so I got
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: the education on that. But they told you, they told me.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: But you know, I'm left handed, so everything I do
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: is with my left hand. But when I was on Instagram,
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: the Instagrams call me apart in the comments.
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: Really, what's your lift?
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: I told them stop going on that.
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: Funny enough sushi you can eat with your hands, really, yeah,
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: if you don't, if you don't know how to use
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: chop stick. So when you go to an all my
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: cass spot, right, which is like basically my cast, you
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: know what is So basically the chief gives you what's available, right,
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: so whatever.
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's called an all my case. It's usually called
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: my case, but it's a whatever the chif has that's available.
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: That's the sushi.
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: You're getting all the fish and whatever whatever it is,
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: and you don't they don't give you chopsticks for some
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: of the dishes.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: You actually pick the sushi, eat it with your hands.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: I know people like that, you know, I like I
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: eat the opian food.
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, how you're gonna have in with get out
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: the restaurant.
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: Was there a city?
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: First?
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: I want to know how the audience are responding to
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: the food, and then I want to know if there's
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: a city in particular that you were like, Wow, they
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: really get it because when they first think maybe South
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: African cuisine, and then they taste the food, obviously it's
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: enlightening and it's like wow, I have to get more.
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: Of this work. Is there a city in particular New York?
• 36:13
  Speaker 5: I feel like this so much that I want to
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: say New York is definitely has always had my best
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: pop ups because it's just the food seene here so vibrant,
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: it's so energetic, so diverse, and so even when you
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: come in and you maybe made up an island that
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: doesn't exist, people will come and try it, you know
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: what I mean? Where I think in other parts it's
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: education constantly and it's finding the you know, the way
• 36:39
  Speaker 5: both cuisine meet each other and kind of finding that midline,
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: kind of like saying, okay, well, you know it's color
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: greens in the South, but you know, how do I
• 36:49
  Speaker 5: take color greens and give it a South African twist?
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: And maybe it's cream spinach because we eat a lot
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: of spinach, but we add a lot of cream through it,
• 36:57
  Speaker 5: you know. And so for me, it's about finding those
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: similar so that it's a little familiar, you know, and
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: it's not like, well I don't I don't know what's
• 37:05
  Speaker 5: going on. But at the same time, when you go
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: to a supper club or a pop up, you're going
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: for a different experience, you know, because if if, if,
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: if it was just a normal restaurant, you know exactly
• 37:14
  Speaker 5: what you're getting.
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: It's the things you like.
• 37:16
  Speaker 5: But when you when you do a supper club where
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: you go to a pop up experience, it's for that
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: different experience because you want something else.
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: You don't want the regular regular.
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: Stuff that you have an elevated experience.
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: An elevated experience, it's it's a beautiful date night, you
• 37:29
  Speaker 4: know that you might.
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: Put so what is Zania so oh?
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: Is that you all did a lot of I mean, I.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Mean, we've been known to do a thing into a
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: research because I mean New York. Obviously we're here. It's
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: diverse Atlanta fool seeing a little different has gotten better?
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, growing?
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: So what is Zaniya? How do we plan to take
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: over this market?
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: So?
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: Zania is a concept that I'm working on back in
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: South Africa. It's a private members club members only phones,
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: no no, no phones. But it's not a gentleman's cause
• 38:05
  Speaker 5: it's a food it's a food space, you know, where
• 38:07
  Speaker 5: you can have your meetings. And so that's a concept
• 38:10
  Speaker 5: that's you know, and it's baby Steps soon to be
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: launched in twenty twenty six and.
• 38:15
  Speaker 3: That's coming to Atlanta as well, or just.
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: In South Africa. South Africa.
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: So talk about social media. How has social media helped
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: the brand? And how are you using social media to
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: create awareness?
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: To be honest, I feel like a lot of social
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: media is like smoking mirrors a lot because it's all perception. Right,
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: maybe it's not smoking mirrors, but like it's perception. You're
• 38:37
  Speaker 5: going to create the brand. It's like how do you
• 38:40
  Speaker 5: how do you? What did someone say the other day?
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: How you show up? Is how people are going to
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: receive you.
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: And so I think as I've shown up, I guess
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: partnering with you guys for investments with the brand South Africa,
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: those are the things.
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: That go Okay, cool, she's.
• 38:54
  Speaker 5: Doing some stuff, you know, because you know your brands
• 38:57
  Speaker 5: are very well known estab and so when you're partnering
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: with those kinds of things, I think for me, it
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: plays a part because people are watching.
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: You know, they may not engage, but they are watching.
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: And so I think social media is are as as
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: much as exhausting as it is, it's it's a really
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: good medium to use.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: Can you explain the difference between a food scene in
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: Atlanta and New York City?
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: No, you know what I think for me, the food
• 39:33
  Speaker 5: scene in Atlanta is growing and it has potential to
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: be amazing. And so I mean New York is a beast,
• 39:43
  Speaker 5: Miami is a beast.
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: London.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: From an educated standpoint, because when I say that New
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: York is the top city in America for food, a
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: lot of I'm educated on food, but a lot of
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: people that may not be as educated as I am,
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: they give me pushback on this. They're like, no, New
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: York food is nasty, and I'm explaining to him as
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: far as how many Michelin star restaurants do we have?
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: How many diversity in the food? So, yeah, can you
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: just explain that trying?
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: Are you trying to let the people in Atlanta kill me?
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: We love it, We love it Atlanta, We love Atlanta.
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: I think the food scene in Atlanta is growing. I
• 40:20
  Speaker 5: think there's a lot of education that's needed. You know,
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: It's funny because when I when I came to Atlanta
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: in twenty twenty four, was it in twenty twenty four?
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: It was like a lot of like the Libanese Persian
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: type restaurants were like I still are like a big
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: thing like Homer's Kebab. And it's like, there's more to
• 40:39
  Speaker 5: cuisine than just that it's great. Mediterranian food is amazing,
• 40:42
  Speaker 5: it's delicious, it's healthy, it's but there's more too.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: Well, Actually, this is a better question, what what what
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: city in America do you think has the best food?
• 40:50
  Speaker 4: Okay, so I've never been to New Orleans.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: The places that you've places that you've.
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: Been to absolutely New York.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: So explain why New York is the number one city.
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: I would say it's hard to go to New York
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: and find a bad restaurant, even if you would just
• 41:04
  Speaker 5: walk down the street and turn right like it is.
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: It really is hard, right, and it depends on your
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: level of also expenditure, what you want to spend. There's
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: a lot of competitions that's very hard. So if you
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: know that a restaurant has been open for a while,
• 41:19
  Speaker 5: you know they are fighting for their lives and they probably.
• 41:23
  Speaker 4: Been at it for a while.
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: And also just the diversity, like you can you can
• 41:28
  Speaker 5: come to New York and find every cuisine known to
• 41:31
  Speaker 5: man potentially, you know, And I think that that's what
• 41:35
  Speaker 5: makes New York just such a great place to eat.
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: I don't think there's anywhere in the world. Actually maybe
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: London can potendially be that too, But you know.
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: Everything, Okay, guys, I appreciate that message. I'm glad you
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: said it.
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: But we can get there, I think, I mean, it
• 41:58
  Speaker 4: is on the rise.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: And I think that Atlanta in order to compete, you
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: just gotta know.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you've got to know.
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: And I think for me, what excites me about Atlanta
• 42:08
  Speaker 5: is that whenever I've had a pop up, it's not
• 42:11
  Speaker 5: it's not that it's not well received, Like people buy
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: tickets and they want to be at it. So there's
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: clearly a market for something different. You know, if you
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: look at the Michelin Star restaurants in Atlanta, they are
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: fully booked for at least like two three weeks in advance,
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: so you can't just walk in. So that for me says, Okay,
• 42:30
  Speaker 5: it's growing and there's still an interest. There's a group.
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: Maybe it's a small group of people, but there are
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: people that are going in and paying five hundred, eight
• 42:38
  Speaker 5: hundred dollars for dinners.
• 42:40
  Speaker 4: They clearly because how do those other restaurants survive.
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: Do you feel the pressure to be a Michelin Star?
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: Do I feel the pressure? I think I would like
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: to be. I am working towards that. You know, I
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: think you know, as a black female chaf from the continent,
• 42:57
  Speaker 5: it would be like insanely epic.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: So I just feel like, as I'm listening to you talk,
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: obviously we've tasted some of the food, I just feel
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: like there's this trail blazing that's happening with you. I
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: wonder if you're looking at it and saying seeing it yourself,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: saying I'm set in a path for so many women
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: from my country from here to travel down this path.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: That's why I wonder if Michelin is a goal.
• 43:17
  Speaker 5: No, it is, I mean for any shift, right, Michelin,
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: James Beard. You know none of those things exist on
• 43:23
  Speaker 5: the continent, which is crazy to me.
• 43:24
  Speaker 4: But hey whatever, we we did.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: Eat at a Michelin star chef's restaurant in.
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: Beni. Yeah.
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: Oh he probably trained.
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: Oh she she probably trained at a Michelin spot and
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: then came to Benin and opened a restaurant in Benie.
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: Because there's no Michelin on the continent.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: She's a Michelin star chef, but she was Michelan. It
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: was a Michelin.
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: She worked the first one to come back.
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah, probably came back.
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: It's French, so she came from Paris.
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: Yeah, she probably worked at a Michelin spot in Paris
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: and want a mission and while she worked there.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: So so there's no Michelin star restaurants. But why do
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: we why does why? Why does that validation matter?
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: The same validation when you guys hit ten years of
• 44:12
  Speaker 5: investments or twenty years or thirty years.
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: No, but I find prestigious.
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: It's not prestigious.
• 44:17
  Speaker 5: It's just like it's like good and faithful servants. You
• 44:21
  Speaker 5: have done the work for sure, Some people means nothing
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: right they.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: Don't care because I feel like they.
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: Don't care for that.
• 44:27
  Speaker 5: But I have, you know, I have a lot to
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: lose because because of how much I've sacrificed and how
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: much I've put in. And so for me, that is
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: the ultimate goal, because what are we doing if we're
• 44:36
  Speaker 5: not like wanting to achieve excellence and perfectionism does not exist.
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: But if we're not striving for it, what do.
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: We know for sure? But I think that sometimes it
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: can be dangerous if we set our expectations based on
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: outsider's approval.
• 44:50
  Speaker 4: That is very true.
• 44:51
  Speaker 5: And sometimes for me, I'm like, you know, maybe I
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: might never get the mischionine because it's a difficult thing
• 44:56
  Speaker 5: to get right, But I think I have a good
• 44:58
  Speaker 5: chance to get it. And because I have a good
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: chance to get it, I might as well try.
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: What's the process?
• 45:04
  Speaker 4: I have no clue.
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: The worst then you don't need it. I think if
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: your work is going to speak for.
• 45:10
  Speaker 5: Itself, the work will speak for itself. And so for me,
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: I'm like, if I don't get it.
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: That's okay.
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: But it's like Bob Maul never won a.
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: Grand that's crazy.
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: Now that Christopher Wallace.
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: But that doesn't take away exactly he didn't need He
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: didn't need the Academy to validate for.
• 45:29
  Speaker 5: Me either way from the township that I'm from, to
• 45:34
  Speaker 5: be able to open a space and say I have
• 45:37
  Speaker 5: a restaurant or a supper club in America. I have
• 45:41
  Speaker 5: products in different grocery stores across the US. I have
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: a cocol that's already on its own, like.
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: You did something, you already.
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: Those things exist in South Africa now.
• 45:52
  Speaker 5: Those things exist in South Africa now, and some of
• 45:55
  Speaker 5: them exist in the US.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: But you know, so before we leave, I do want
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: to talk about South Africa. Okay, South Africa. We've hearst
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: hold many stories about this, and growing up, I feel like,
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: you know, when we saw South Africa receives aparthid in
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: Nelson Mandela, all this stuff and then he gets elected
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: the whole story and then you know, even now, it's
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: just whenever people talk about South Africa, they always say
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: like it's just so different from every other part of Africa,
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: right for a variety of different reasons, as far as
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: how they categorize race, how dominated it is, as far
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: as like a European influence, how it's just it's just
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: it's always categorized as like just different from the rest
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: of at least Sub Saharan Africa. What can you say
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: to people that's never been to South Africa as far
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: as like what is what's the real deal with South Africa?
• 46:47
  Speaker 5: South Africa is beautiful. I'm not going to say it's
• 46:50
  Speaker 5: a hidden gym, because it's not hidden. It's an incredible,
• 46:54
  Speaker 5: vibrant country. I think one of the things that resonated
• 46:57
  Speaker 5: with Atlanta for me was how similar to Johannesburg it is,
• 47:01
  Speaker 5: you know, the black excellents, the you know, every country
• 47:04
  Speaker 5: for me has difficulties, you know, they that you can't
• 47:08
  Speaker 5: run away from. But I think what makes South Africa
• 47:11
  Speaker 5: beautiful is just the people.
• 47:13
  Speaker 4: The people are.
• 47:14
  Speaker 5: Absolutely incredible, kind, amazing. There's just so much to do
• 47:19
  Speaker 5: as well, at a fraction of the price, you know,
• 47:22
  Speaker 5: because the dollar's around, you know, seventeen to one. You know,
• 47:28
  Speaker 5: you're not going to spend five hundred dollars on a mail,
• 47:32
  Speaker 5: you know, And and.
• 47:34
  Speaker 4: It's it's you. You couldn't.
• 47:36
  Speaker 5: You couldn't you could experience in one country the best
• 47:40
  Speaker 5: of the best. So when I say the best, it's
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: still you know, you could go to I don't know,
• 47:46
  Speaker 5: you could go to Cape Town for example, just use
• 47:47
  Speaker 5: Cape Town as an example and and enjoy luxury whatever.
• 47:51
  Speaker 5: And you can go to Doeburgh and experience just you know,
• 47:56
  Speaker 5: you know, street culture and and township culture. And you
• 48:00
  Speaker 5: can go to Villagazzi Street where you know, the only
• 48:03
  Speaker 5: two Nobel Prize winners lived across well down the road
• 48:06
  Speaker 5: from each other, Desmond Teacher and Nelson Mandela, you know.
• 48:09
  Speaker 5: And so for me, that diversity is amazing. And these
• 48:12
  Speaker 5: places only two hours away from each other by flight,
• 48:16
  Speaker 5: you know. And I don't think there's a country that
• 48:18
  Speaker 5: you can experience the difference that are so close in
• 48:21
  Speaker 5: one in one spot in one country. You know, I
• 48:25
  Speaker 5: think the business opportunities in South Africa are insane. And
• 48:29
  Speaker 5: you know, me being here does not mean there's there's
• 48:32
  Speaker 5: no business opportunities. It's like the machine is still operating
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: itself down south. It's just you know, we've got to
• 48:38
  Speaker 5: expand because you know, people want to grow their brands
• 48:40
  Speaker 5: and be bigger and et cetera. But yeah, you just
• 48:44
  Speaker 5: have to go. I'm yet to meet anyone that goes
• 48:46
  Speaker 5: to South Africa and hates it.
• 48:47
  Speaker 4: Like genuinely.
• 48:51
  Speaker 5: Moving to South Africa, and funny enough, there's so many
• 48:54
  Speaker 5: Americans moving.
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: We haven't been to the country yet.
• 48:58
  Speaker 4: You need to go.
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: We definitely there's somebody.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: Who was the executive chef for South American Airlines, I
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: believe South Africa South African. So I was wondering, Oh, okay,
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: I see.
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: Well, how did you get the position?
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: And then let's talk about how we can make I
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: was like, that's me, it's you, one of the roles.
• 49:20
  Speaker 3: And how did you get this position?
• 49:22
  Speaker 4: I asked?
• 49:25
  Speaker 5: Literally, you know, It's funny because I went to them,
• 49:28
  Speaker 5: probably was like four years ago, and I was like, hey,
• 49:32
  Speaker 5: you know, I'd love to work with you guys, and
• 49:33
  Speaker 5: they were like, no, we're not. You know, it's not
• 49:35
  Speaker 5: the time, you know, we're not. That's not our focus
• 49:38
  Speaker 5: at the moment. And I actually emailed them about something else.
• 49:41
  Speaker 5: I was actually emailing them about getting my product into
• 49:44
  Speaker 5: the airline, you know, and they were like, you know what,
• 49:46
  Speaker 5: actually we think we have we have something even better
• 49:49
  Speaker 5: for you, you know.
• 49:50
  Speaker 4: And so that's basically what happens.
• 49:52
  Speaker 5: Like most of the things I've ever gone is because
• 49:54
  Speaker 5: I just asked a question and I was like, hey,
• 49:56
  Speaker 5: do you think we could do something with investments in
• 49:59
  Speaker 5: Brents all that forget I could have gotten a know,
• 50:01
  Speaker 5: I could have gotten a maybe it could I could
• 50:03
  Speaker 5: have gotten you know, maybe next time. But most of
• 50:07
  Speaker 5: the things I've ever done is because.
• 50:08
  Speaker 3: I just asked, what kind of perks come with that?
• 50:11
  Speaker 5: The hurts, the disappointment, there's no perks. You gotta work hard, yeah,
• 50:17
  Speaker 5: you know, it's just it's hard work. And then it's
• 50:19
  Speaker 5: you know, it's hard work, and it's hard work. And
• 50:21
  Speaker 5: I guess you have to have thick skin because you're
• 50:23
  Speaker 5: not always going to get a yes, or somebody is
• 50:26
  Speaker 5: not going to reply because.
• 50:27
  Speaker 4: I'm not necessarily known.
• 50:29
  Speaker 5: But there was someone who once said, like, you are
• 50:32
  Speaker 5: five people away from getting to the people you want
• 50:34
  Speaker 5: to know.
• 50:36
  Speaker 4: So and I'm a believe of that.
• 50:38
  Speaker 5: So it would have been asked, this person who's going
• 50:40
  Speaker 5: to ask this person? You know, and you will get
• 50:42
  Speaker 5: to the answer that you want, you know, So just ask.
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: Asking, you shall receive. Well you have, thank you for
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: your time, Thank you telling people how to follow you
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: on social media and everything.
• 50:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so you could follow me on Instagram which is
• 50:57
  Speaker 5: Lorna my circle. I'm sure it'll pop up somewhere. But yeah,
• 51:01
  Speaker 5: so Lona my circle and then on Twitter or x
• 51:03
  Speaker 5: is at Lorns underscore my circle, TikTok is Lona myco eats.
• 51:10
  Speaker 5: But yeah, you know, stay in church, follow the Ikaya
• 51:13
  Speaker 5: dining experience because it's going to be.
• 51:16
  Speaker 4: We don't be there, you know the number.
• 51:20
  Speaker 3: When I get there, I should the caviar should be
• 51:22
  Speaker 3: ready of course. Okay, okay, okay.
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: All right, God, thank you for see you next week.
• 51:27
  Speaker 3: Please please