Thoko Mnqayana of Cape Town's Africa Café gets ready to serve a table of guests with the exciting dishes prepared at the world famous restaurant. In her hand is Portia's sticky chicken wings. - Photos by Janet Silvera

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Johannesburg, South Africa:

They were the butt of many jokes - a white man and a black woman in South Africa, embarking on a restaurant that serves authentic African food in a country just coming out of hundreds of years of apartheid.

Portia and Jason de Smidt struggled for years to receive acceptance after they started the first African restaurant in South Africa in their living room - equipped to accommodate merely 10 people.

"People never took us seriously and all the other restaurants around us felt we were jokers," the husband and wife team told The Gleaner. Even after their success was apparent, their competitors said, "The novelty will soon wear off."

An the joke is now on the naysayers, there is still a challenge convincing black South Africans that African food is quite fun, they say.

International recognition

"White South Africans and foreigners flock our restaurant, but not a lot of black people. It's still a mindset that anything black is not fantastic. For our people, it has to be something that comes from Europe," said Portia, the cook in the family.

What started as a small eatery has moved from seating 10 to an average of 260 persons six nights per week. And if you don't have a reservation, there is no way you are getting into the now world reknowned Africa Café, Cape Town's pride and the de Smidt's joy.

Hector, de Smidt's brother, who became a partner in the restaurant a few years ago, has been the marketing genius behind the restaurant. Through his efforts, Africa Café was featured in the 2002 United Kingdom programme Places to Visit before You Die.

During the tourist season, they are forced to open seven nights per week and those who don't have reservations simply cannot get in.

"Our success is borne out of the fact that we don't treat the people who walk through our doors like customers; we treat them like they are coming into our home and that is why they keep coming back," affirms Mrs. de Smidt.

Portia de Smidt's creativity in the kitchen has been an ongoing process, and she has developed a repertoire of many African dishes that are served in the restaurant as a set menu called the communal feast.

The communal feast is a celebration of the rich diversity of food from all of Africa, brought together in a form of celebration, and in the traditional African sense - this means guests are never given a chance tohold back.

Inspired by diversity

All 16 dishes are served as part of this feast. The menu, which changes every three months, is inspired by a number of sources, including the legacy passed down from Mrs. de Smidt's mother and grandmother. This expanded into a love of the diversity of African food. These days she makes annual pilgrimages to all parts of the continent in search of inspiration.

"When we travel, we stay in small guest houses and I make regular visits to their kitchens in search of new and exciting dishes," Mrs. de Smidt admitted proudly.

Her exploration allows her to place great emphasis on simplicity, freshness and flavours that reaches out to everyone that enters the wrought iron gates into the chic Africa Café.

Cape Town's Africa Café serves up a feast of 16 dishes each night. This plate is filled with Ethiopian sik sik nat, Tanzanian mango chicken, Egyptian Koshery, brown rice lentils and noodles topped with tomato gravy, Basmati rice and lamb in a traditional berebe and paprika sauce.