halwaridi is a gastronomic symphony of Kenya’s Coast.
halwaridi is a creative culinary studio fusing Kenyan coastal comfort food with live music and visual art.
we are not a restaurant.
we are a love story.
of mother and son.
in KiSwahili halwaridi is the herb rosemary; lightly watered, evergreen in full sun, yet generously fragrant. like Africa. adapting to adversity.
halwaridi is Rosemary Kasiba; tireless in her fight for the recognition of sex work as work, and mother to a gay son. themselves alive to exclusion.
Africa’s culinary scene is in a renaissance, with memory taking centre stage. halwaridi joins this charge, reviving ancestral flavors, while building financial security in Kenya’s coastal peoples, where rich traditions of food, music, and art flourish.
we are love in three ways: we highly regard our suppliers, sharing their stories alongside ours; we platform marginalised people, including women, LGBTQ+ folk, and sex workers; and, we are pushing aside abusive industry pay cultures and modelling pay parity, raising the bar for what the industry offers her staff.
our existence is testament to the power of honouring tradition, while embracing diversity and equity.
— mutisya, son of rosemary
executive chef + creative director
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our suppers are a celebration of the culinary singularity of Kenya’s Coast. we present themed one-off menus, customised to our diners’ dietary restrictions — 7 plates of Kenyan coastal gastronomy at its zenith, served al fresco, around a communal table, serenaded by live music, a private visual art exhibition, and thoughtfully paired wine, cocktails, and tea. will you join our next supper?
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our socials are a street-style soirée — a dance floor by the Indian Ocean. we serve live music, DJ sets, and visual art, and sell gourmet Kenyan Coastal street food and handcrafted beverages, while championing local artisans and craftsmanship. come catch the vibe with us!
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the junior chefs academy is a school holidays cooking camp where halwaridi chefs team up with early childhood educators to ignite your child's curiosity over cooking and history. we prepare supper for our parents following a day of exploration, cooking, and play. we take great pride in nurturing future food stewards. enrol your little ones to a delicious journey of discovery!
we are a cultural archival venture
we are self-directed historians stirred by the sense of ceremony in African tradition. scavengers in the darkness of unrecorded history, piecing centuries-old accounts of our food and culture. what we completely lost we make up for in imagination. our heritage is in us — coursing through our veins.
resurfacing tradition revives our ancestry, provides a living record of our creativity, and ensures some resilience against loss of memory.
we are reclaiming and reimagining Kenyan coastal food traditions.
what would have materialized in the space restaurants occupy? how much of our cultural identity has survived colonization, civilization, and religion?
the problem
tourism on Kenya’s Coast has entrenched European sensibilities in food, music, and art, leaving few meaningful jobs in local culinary and cultural expression, and, what work there is seldom amounts to decent wages, humane schedules, and lives of dignity outside of work.
Kenya’s laws provide that cooks be paid a minimum KES 9,370 ($64) monthly in Kilifi and KES 16,418 ($112) in Nairobi. even if at odds with the real costs of living, employers are unmotivated to exceed these paltry rates.
lisilo budi hutendwa
what is due must be done
halwaridi is a persuasion to spend with our culture’s pioneers, affording them much-needed financial reprieve.
we are disassembling the restaurant in its constructions and intents, to build what it could instead be if devoted to the livelihoods of sector workers, and the land and ocean that feed us.
and, with every successive pop-up experience we are sharpening our knives, priming the path for a test kitchen poised for launch in 2027.
Our Values
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We deliver culinary and service excellence, creating exceptional customer experiences. We take pride in our high-quality food offerings, which we complement with carefully curated drinks. We are invested in staff training and development keeping abreast with industry innovation, and setting ourselves up for sustained growth.
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We stand firm in our commitment to providing fair and competitive pay for our dedicated team and service providers. We commit to equal pay for work of equal value, without prejudice. We also actively support local supplier communities, sharing their stories alongside ours, altogether aiming to make a substantial and positive impact in our local economies.
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We take pride in preserving and advancing Kenyan coastal heritage, placing emphasis on authentic recreation and expression. Our commitment is evident as we champion indigenous tradition and knowledge in cooking, music, and art, and our presentation of space.
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We align with local communities, particularly women, and the most marginalized; striving to provide accessible pricing, location, and welcoming spaces for all. We have a high regard and care for customers, without prejudice, cultivating and rewarding customer loyalty. And, we maintain a positive and inclusive workspace for our multi-talented, and diversely abled team.
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Safety is not just a protocol—it is our operational philosophy. We strive for stringent hygiene standards in our food handling, and prioritize climate-positive actions like conscientious product sourcing, and seasonal cooking. Our decisions reflect our dedication to a secure, sustainable future for people and the planet.
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We are preserved by a foundation of honesty, transparency, prudent financial management, and ethical business practice, in order to build trust in our team, with collaborators, and with customers. We are committed to seeking and responding to customer feedback and needs.
