In this interview, Mohammed Jibril , owner of Rainforest Lounge discusses the value of having an important relationship with your restaurant supplier and why he bet big on sheesha . He also reveals , what the most popular dish is from the Somali cuisine the restaurant offers as well as his plans for having a major Art event in his location in the near future.
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| "I didn't know people would love the tranquility so much - that was by fluke!" |
I came to Rainforest Lounge while we were working on a poetry night/ art event with Kenya Poets Lounge. Mohammed was interested in Kenyan poetry and art and he wanted to do something about it - how about plan and develop an art event?
He is genuinely commited to art and I was genuinely fascinated by his lounge and how he started it from scratch ; so I asked him if I could interview him. "Of course , come down anytime and we'll do this." He said.
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| The sheesha lounge |
I scheduled the interview on a
Wednesday and arrived with a very eager camera man (who made the Youtube clip possible). Joel gets his equipment ready , and he's
busy pondering where to shoot from. Mohammed arrives , "Hi guys, where do you want me?". I stare at Joel , and he motions us to sit at the very end of the sheesha lounge that has a view of the restaurant.
We both sit down at the desired spot and now the reins are handed over to me , I try to maintain a serious face , but there's something about cameras that always made me nonsensical.(Watch the video below).
Mohammed sits with his legs forward , his hands clasped together and he looks at me directly in the eye and I know that I have his undivided attention. There's no time like the present and we begin our interview.
Q&A - Mohammed Jibril
1. Let's start from the beginning , how did you come up with the idea of opening Rainforest: having a spa , beauty salon and most interestingly of all a Sheesha lounge?
It was an idea from my mother first to open up a Spa and a Beauty Salon and I thought , we could do that but I have a feeling that we won't sell as potentially, as we could . Why don't we do a sheesha place? Because I knew that Sheesha was becoming a new fad in Nairobi , I noticed and thought to myself ... wow Kenyans know a lot about Sheesha , and I said why not have a Sheesha place and a Spa . She said, that could work , why don't you add some food as well? I said perfect : Sheesha lounge , Spa / Beauty Salon and a Restaurant.
Like a trinity?
Yes, something like that.
2.You have a beautiful lounge , no doubt you have done an
incredible job of making your lounge have a certain ambience that is ...
charming. Not to mention the the tranquility of it. Did you find the
magic in the place or did you capture that?
That happened by luck, we didn't plan to have a very ambient/ secluded location. My first intention was to find a property somewhere that has a lot of traffic or maybe a downtown area maybe even in Westlands. But the prices were pretty crazy and I said wait , we're a new business let's try and minimise expense so let's go look for residential properties as opposed to commercial ones. So we started looking , it lasted about a month and a half trying to find that place , but God willingly we came here . Originally, this was all grass , it was literally, a Rainforest. Unfortunately , seven or eight trees had to die in order to make this place. When we found this place , we knew this was the location.
3. Rainforest Lounge is clearly a special place, but what sets it apart from the rest?
The ambiance , the tranquility , its very quiet , very peaceful. You can hear the birds , you can hear mother nature. As you know, Nairobi is very busy ; the traffic , the buses , the noises , dust everywhere so it is not common to find a place without noise so thats what sets it apart.
Second, the privacy. It's hard to get a quiet, private area and that is something my customers appreciate that this place is quiet and private.
4. Your menu seems like a culinary adventure of Somali cuisine; what is the most popular dish and your favourite as well?
Customers love the Mindi rice , it's a rice from Yemen, it's definitely our biggest hit people love it. There's a few Mindi locations but they are mostly in Eastleigh , it's a big hit among the Somali community as for Kenyans and all other folk they didn't know what it was at first , but once I told them it was our signature and our go to menu item , they fell in love right away. We have a great selection of goat meat , and for those who are not fans of goat meat , we have the whole fish mindi , the chicken , but our most popular is the goat meat because they love how tender it is.
My favourite would have to be Shawarma , its very light , easy to make , quick and I love it! It goes down very well , the Mindi but it's very heavy that's why I like to keep it light and balanced with the shawarma.
5. In this experience of starting your own restaurant; what has been the most exciting part and what has been the most challenging?
That's a tough one. The most exciting part is seeing how much people love the design of this place, the way people reacted to the location and to the business that was exciting. I didn't know people would love the tranquility so much , that happened by fluke. But for the most part , playing with the menu items , experimenting , bringing musicians to entertain customers , coming up with new ideas .
We both sit down at the desired spot and now the reins are handed over to me , I try to maintain a serious face , but there's something about cameras that always made me nonsensical.(Watch the video below).
Mohammed sits with his legs forward , his hands clasped together and he looks at me directly in the eye and I know that I have his undivided attention. There's no time like the present and we begin our interview.
Q&A - Mohammed Jibril
1. Let's start from the beginning , how did you come up with the idea of opening Rainforest: having a spa , beauty salon and most interestingly of all a Sheesha lounge?
It was an idea from my mother first to open up a Spa and a Beauty Salon and I thought , we could do that but I have a feeling that we won't sell as potentially, as we could . Why don't we do a sheesha place? Because I knew that Sheesha was becoming a new fad in Nairobi , I noticed and thought to myself ... wow Kenyans know a lot about Sheesha , and I said why not have a Sheesha place and a Spa . She said, that could work , why don't you add some food as well? I said perfect : Sheesha lounge , Spa / Beauty Salon and a Restaurant.
Like a trinity?
Yes, something like that.
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| The Beauty Salon and Spa |
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| The Restaurant |
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| The Sheesha Tent |
That happened by luck, we didn't plan to have a very ambient/ secluded location. My first intention was to find a property somewhere that has a lot of traffic or maybe a downtown area maybe even in Westlands. But the prices were pretty crazy and I said wait , we're a new business let's try and minimise expense so let's go look for residential properties as opposed to commercial ones. So we started looking , it lasted about a month and a half trying to find that place , but God willingly we came here . Originally, this was all grass , it was literally, a Rainforest. Unfortunately , seven or eight trees had to die in order to make this place. When we found this place , we knew this was the location.
 |
| Originally, this was all grass , it was literally, a Rainforest. |
3. Rainforest Lounge is clearly a special place, but what sets it apart from the rest?
The ambiance , the tranquility , its very quiet , very peaceful. You can hear the birds , you can hear mother nature. As you know, Nairobi is very busy ; the traffic , the buses , the noises , dust everywhere so it is not common to find a place without noise so thats what sets it apart.
Second, the privacy. It's hard to get a quiet, private area and that is something my customers appreciate that this place is quiet and private.
 | ||||||||||
| It's hard to get a quiet, private area and thats something my customers appreciate. |
4. Your menu seems like a culinary adventure of Somali cuisine; what is the most popular dish and your favourite as well?
Customers love the Mindi rice , it's a rice from Yemen, it's definitely our biggest hit people love it. There's a few Mindi locations but they are mostly in Eastleigh , it's a big hit among the Somali community as for Kenyans and all other folk they didn't know what it was at first , but once I told them it was our signature and our go to menu item , they fell in love right away. We have a great selection of goat meat , and for those who are not fans of goat meat , we have the whole fish mindi , the chicken , but our most popular is the goat meat because they love how tender it is.
My favourite would have to be Shawarma , its very light , easy to make , quick and I love it! It goes down very well , the Mindi but it's very heavy that's why I like to keep it light and balanced with the shawarma.
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| Your menu seems like a culinary adventure of Somali cuisine |
5. In this experience of starting your own restaurant; what has been the most exciting part and what has been the most challenging?
That's a tough one. The most exciting part is seeing how much people love the design of this place, the way people reacted to the location and to the business that was exciting. I didn't know people would love the tranquility so much , that happened by fluke. But for the most part , playing with the menu items , experimenting , bringing musicians to entertain customers , coming up with new ideas .
The challenging part and I hate to say this , is dealing with the customers . It's my weakness , I have problems dealing with the obnoxious folk , the rudeness , the very picky picky but in hospitality you have to come in with a professional mindstate , knowing that even though they are wrong , customers are always right. But I'm learning.
6. What advice do you have for people thinking about having this career , or those who've already started?
First and foremost- survey. You can't open a restaurant unless you like going to restaraunts or you don't like food. Survey, see who's out there , see the competition , see the prices , see what people like about certain places , see what you could offer that has all those other things and something different.
Second , I would say get a good supplier for all your inventory items , find the best meat , veggie and food supplier and make sure you have a good long standing relationship with them for this will make or break you. The prices will change , guys will add things in - you've got to make sure the guy supplying your inventory is someone you can trust .
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| You can't open a restaurant unless you like going to restaraunts or you don't like food. |
7. How do you promote the restaurant?
We have all kinds of different specials all week to bring in different crowds.
Mondays/Thursdays we see a lot of students come out. This is when we have 25% off standard sheesha that is 900 will be 695.
Friday/Saturdays
we have a lot of live bands that come here , Somali bands with a huge
following, all the middle class upper class Somali folk have nothing to
do on Fridays and Saturdays so we give them this opportunity to come out
and have some fun. It's mostly a 20s-50s age group, this is also our
biggest day of the week.
Wednesday we have comedy nights by JB, who is a well known and renowned comedian in Nairobi.
Tuesdays we are trying to package the Spa , giving mani/pedis and facials at 25% off.
Sundays we are going to have our poetry nights , live art , showcasing talent in Nairobi but this is all in the works.
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| Eric Rixpoet( Spoken Word Poet) and Chris Mukasa ( Writer and Poet) from Kenya Poets Lounge. |
It was a combination of my mums idea and my idea. What I like about the dynamic is that a group of women will come do their nails , do their hair have some coffee and eventually they'll get hungry while they are waiting for their friend , they'll eat so it works out and for the guys they came here for the sheesha and they'll be like you know what .... I think I need a shave or my back kind of hurts ... why not have a massage? It's a combination of many things.
Our poetry nights. We are organising this an event to launch on 5th May 2013
, that will feature poetry , art and music. Poetry , art and music are
all hobbies of mine. I have that creative side in me , I genuinely love
it so the idea of promoting art , giving artists a venue and a home
that's something I'm passionate about.
Rainforest Lounge
Makindi Road , Off Riara Road
Nrb, Kenya.
+254 714429779
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| Oh, the places you'll go. |
Watch the interview here:
