Revisiting Rwanda

What was the inspiration behind the name and concept of Kōzo?

The inspiration was creating a space that brought food, people and drinks together in an environment that they felt comfortable with sharing stories and building relationships, that was kind of the initial thinking behind the brand. 

Can you share what sets you apart in terms of standard? 

I think one of the main things that we do differently is our offering. You know in terms of food and drinks, we are the pioneers of the Afro-Asian concept where we marry our African flavors with a variety of Asian flavors. And at the same time we also infuse our other cultural elements. Be it music, be it our style of service and then be it also the design of the spaces, that’s going to stand the test of time. We’ll always continue to innovate and stay dynamic and not necessarily moving with the trends, but also be more trendsetters with regards to what we feel like is a new trend in our industry. 

What’s your philosophy on sustainability and supporting local farmers and producers? 

That’s a great question, that’s one of the cores to everything that we do. Over 80 percent of our ingredients are produced and sourced locally. We tend to support the local infrastructure in many ways, so we do collaborate with quite a few farmers as well where we seem to be giving growth and ingredients that can always be found in Ghana. In terms of sustainability, we use recipes that promote very little wastage. You know, we use almost every part of the fish, for instance, fruits and vegetables. 

Is there a signature offering that is consistent across locations in both Accra and Kigali?

I would say our rock shrimp and our udon. Noodles are so far our signature dishes and then also our Afro roll, which is made with tilapia. 

What should one expect when dining at Kōzo?

They should expect international standards of excellence. They should expect a very calming feeling that allows them to really let their guts down and explore our new types of dishes. And enjoy the vibe, which comes with our curated playlists and our ambiance, which comes with our choice of lights, our landscaping , creating the blur between indoor and outdoor and that is what you get across all our venues. 

How do you incorporate local flavors and culinary traditions into your menu?  

I think a lot of it is about cooking techniques very similar to some of our local ones. And in general, there’s a term that we’ve known we’re spearheading. It’s called the basic African hospitality and it goes beyond just food, right? And it goes beyond how the food is served, how you’re treated in the space. It’s very similar to the way we feel when we are invited into someone’s home.

It’s like we are going to rent somebody’s home. There’s a certain way, or tradition in which you do things. You know naturally, our culture has been all around the community, you know we are not selfish people. We really love to share, love to take care of family and that is all part of the ethos of what we are doing and how we weave those ideas into the techniques of executing our offering. 

Did you face any challenges opening Kōzo? 

We opened in the middle of COVID, so there were a lot of restrictions around how we could operate and even just having the right inputs to be able to serve our customers and keep the standard right. We live in an environment that has quite a bit of uncertainty in many ways. 

And, we are trying to bring a high level of service standard to the continent—laborers are very scarce.

But, we’ve turned that problem into an opportunity, where it’s rather empowering for the young and enthusiastic folks. We have employed over 350 people. 

Do you have any advice to give, especially to someone who wants to open a restaurant in Africa or Ghana? 

Just be authentic. I think that there’s definitely a lot of copying in the industry. As they say, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, but I think there are various ways that one can present their vision of what a food and beverage experience should be. Then, let’s give our customers more. Let’s create things that are of a higher standard, and let’s turn around this narrative of people thinking that things that come out of Africa are mediocre. Let’s be world-class.