Picture this, you have been up and about, texting this lady that is the potential love of your life. Finally, she gives you a response and agrees to a romantic date. Then suddenly it hits you, there’s nothing to be found on Kampala’s restaurant scene. Although there’s a semblance of fine dining, nothing really strikes the part of fine dining. Every other restaurant is a pretender to the scene.
It almost makes no difference if you make the reservation, there will be a spot for you anyway. For even when a reservation is made, it won’t be for such a special location that makes you celebrate the effort it took in making it. And not only that, when you arrive, but the team at the front desk could also have forgotten all about your reservation and will take minutes making sense of their dilemma.
And when you have been seated, it hits you, that not even the lighting is helping the case, the salt may come without the pepper, a piece of the cutlery will be missing, or you will keep getting a water goblet for a wine glass. The only difference is that they will still maintain a fine dining price. But nothing about the service experience will speak fine dining. If you are with me till this point, then you understand that there’s something missing about the Kampala restaurant scene – a proper fine dining experience.
Currently, Kampala doesn’t have a fine dining experience. We have restaurants that carry the tag, but they cannot match up for that experience. Recently, a friend in the hospitality industry (at the rating side of things) whispered to me that the Michelin Guide team came around to Kampala to prospect and award a Ugandan restaurant. But to their shock, there wasn’t a restaurant that could get a star. Not because of quality or anything for that matter, but because none of the restaurants had carved out a story for any of their meals.
That’s to say, if one had to visit Kampala just to try out a restaurant and fly back, there’s not a single restaurant that currently merits the journey. Nothing worth a stop, worth a detour, worth a special journey.
And perhaps this is the next journey in the Ugandan hospitality industry – exquisite service design and learning the art of storytelling to the restaurant specials. It’s something that will take deliberate effort on the part of the fine-dining restaurants. Pick out a few specialities and make them truly Ugandan and wrap them around with a consistent and coherent story. Then let the guests partake in that speciality of the meal and the service.
Is there a restaurant where someone would fall in love upon entry? Is there a restaurant in Kampala that would mend a broken heart? Is there a restaurant where one would long to celebrate a proper special day in their life?
For now, Kampala’s fine dining restaurants lack a differentiation factor, they all look the same, make the same offering, and do not yet give a proper fine dining experience. It’s not yet uhuru in the fine dining category.
Photo Credit: Mediteranneo Restaurant, by Nadine Botha