Observations after a month of running a restaurant in Abidjan

by | Dec 18, 2013 | Biz, Cote D'Ivoire, Stories

dining_room

Here are a few observations and lessons learned from nearly two months of running a full service restaurant in Abidjan.

Running a restaurant is a great way to meet people. Among our regulars, we have the captain of ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’Ivoire’s most storied club football team). We have Monsieur Kedjenou, an extremely well-read Anglo-Ivorian who orders a half chicken kedjenou almost every evening. There is Yehni Djidi who, in addition to writing a popular and insightful blog, has a lovely husband and a great group of friends. There are also a few other bloggers, like Ishy, Edwige, and Ama, who are frequent visitors and a pleasure to host every time. Then there is everyone from the quartier. Some who come to watch the match and drink a beer and some who come with their petit(e) ami(e) for a late night kedjenou. Lots of friendly faces and good conversation and perhaps 5% irritating and difficult folks. I’ll take it.

Restaurant work can give you a hangover without drinking any alcohol. It makes sense. Strange meal times, possible dehydration, little time to relax, many decisions to make, long hours. It’s easy for your body to get out of sync. If you are already earning a hangover without alcohol, might as well have a drink or two. This is about mental health.

Rain and power outages are really not very interesting when you are running a restaurant. A couple of weeks ago, we had an evening killed by rain and a concurrent power outage. We had one couple that came in to dine by candle light. Despite the emergence of delestron, an imaginary monster that cuts electricity by neighborhood in Abidjan, power outages are relatively rare in Abidjan when compared to the rest of the region. In Bamako, Dakar or Accra, many businesses are required to have a generator. That said, Cote d’Ivoire’s CIE is not what it once was and power infrastructure needs to be improved.

We are blessed to have a number of employees who are invested in their work. One of our servers has created what has become a very popular cocktail: the lion, a mixture that includes gingembre and tequila among other top secret ingredients (grenadine). While he does have a problem with punctuality, he takes his craft seriously otherwise and has a great rapport with our customers. We’ve been fortunate to have a core equipe that is talented and motivated, both in the kitchen and on the service side. We’ve been less fortunate to have a few transient employees that were never really interested in being part of this family. They waited for a bit of their salary and then took off. This happens, too.

Running a restaurant offers great insight into the local economy, neighborhood politics and gossip, the price of a whole goat, and many other things. It doesn’t take long to learn who on the block is a little bit crooked or who in the mayor’s office will launch empty threats in hopes of a bribe. Whether you want to or not, you hear about disagreements and palabres, and sometimes they happen right in front of you. You can also see the amount of money in people’s wallets as you go from the 1st to the 30th. The month starts with crisp 10000 CFA notes and winds down to tired and crumpled bills of 1000 and 2000 CFA. Abidjan’s skyscrapers are becoming less mossy and highways are improving, but a lot needs to happen before money really starts to circulate among the majority of the population.

Customers form habits quickly. Most of our regulars gravitate to certain tables, usually the table they sat at when they first ate at the restaurant. Some like to hide out in the back. Others prefer to be one step from the door. When certain customers walk in, we can place their order without asking. We know Monsieur Kedjenou will have a half chicken kedjenou with a side of pommes sautes and a tea, for example. We know that Jean will have a tchep au poulet with a chicken thigh, etc.

tchep

La fete arrive. Between the 20th and the 5th, business in Abidjan largely shuts down. That is, if the business is not a maquis, nightclub, restaurant or hair salon. Market prices tick up and people bank on the “13th month” of their salaries. This is the time to go out and enjoy yourself. Last year, when we were just running deliveries, this time period was a dead zone. This year, we count on it. We are planning on going all night for a few days in the coming weeks. Feel free to stop by and join the party.

bonappetit

This work has been exhausting, but fun and interesting, too. As the project becomes more organized, I will have some more time to reflect here. If you find yourself in Abidjan, come by for a glass of palm wine on the house.

16 Comments

  1. Kira

    Felicitations Phil, will come & eat with you all in February!

    Reply
    • phil

      Great, Kira! A bientot alors

      Reply
  2. Kent

    It’s great to read that things appear to be coming together. I hope the difficult and irritating people fade away soon enough. I also hope I’m not one of them should I come by!

    Reply
    • phil

      No, I don’t think you’ll be one of them, unless you are the kind of person that preemptively says you will get into an argument if there is not enough chili pepper served on the side 😉

      Reply
  3. Kim

    You’re making me hungry, Pheel!! Congratulations! Sounds like an amazing experience for you and a joy for your community.

    Reply
    • phil

      haha, thanks Kim. Could really use Gustavo to run the front of the house here !!

      Reply
  4. Peggy Bright

    Congratulations on opening your restaurant and its success. I found my way here via The Sleeping Camel. Hope to get to Abidjan one day and place an order.

    Reply
    • phil

      Hey thanks, Peggy. Would love to have you!

      Reply
  5. John

    Great to read. I’ll be around in April so looking forward to a good Kedjenou.

    Reply
    • phil

      Sounds good, John. See you then

      Reply
  6. Benjamin

    WOW!

    Congrats on the early success my brother! I’d love to come by for a quick Lion, but alas, I am a bit far away. I don’t see any Catan boxes in that restaurant… I also don’t see any hibachi tables….

    Keep up the good work man.

    Miss you brother!@

    Reply
    • phil

      Why don’t you bring the fam out here and import some catan boxes while you are at it. We don’t have hibachi tables yet, but on the 24th we’re putting in some outdoor barbeque. We’ll get there 🙂

      Reply
  7. Maggie Dodson

    Congratulations, Phil, on having such a handsome looking (red) establishment and a such a successful restaurant…..you already have regulars, notable and colourful patrons! I wish i were in the vicinity to partake of some of the all-night merriment in the near future. keep up the good work and avoid the ‘real’ hangover!

    Reply
    • phil

      Thanks, Maggie. You are certainly invited to come visit!

      Reply
  8. Wesley

    Great pictures man, I love it.

    Reply
  9. ursanegro

    i’ve been gone from abidjan for 25 years [and my mother would be horrified of the state of my french at this point].

    i’m tempted to come back. i randomly found your page, and it has me remembering some of the things i miss about it. you know, i used to live in dakar as well, as recently as ten years ago, the power rarely went out the way it does now.

    how are the power cuts these days? are they baaaaaaaaad? manageable?

    Reply

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