Apart from the recently concluded Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, an excellent initiative of our Foreign Ministry to promote food and wine culture and its excellence in other countries, there are those in Kenya who do this work of spreading the word about taste, flavours and in-depth knowledge on a daily basis, all year round, as Ambassador Roberto Natali rightly pointed out during his recent meeting with Italian restaurateurs and importers.

Of course, it could be asserted that they do this with commercial intentions, but for some of our compatriots working between Nairobi and the Kenyan coast it is not just a matter of economics.
There is the passion of those who have this job in their blood or have chosen it because they combine the pride of being Italian with one of the most pleasant aspects of our tradition, a 'trademark' of the country they come from.

One of the most shining examples is Gourmet Master, the creation of importer Roberto Miano in the capital. Miano, who has been in Kenya for more than thirty years and since then has been a reference point for Italian products, especially on the coast, has decided to dedicate himself in Nairobi to high quality products and above all not to limit himself to proposing and selling them.
Italian excellence needs to be told, to be given a broader scope that embraces our territory, the professionalism that derives from the peasant and artisan world, the growth of companies that have gone from the family dimension to the industrial, modern and technological dimension, without losing the quality and genuineness of the products.

Gourmet Master succeeds in doing all this with events where the pleasure of getting together, in the multi-ethnic and 'multi-social' Kenyan metropolis, is combined with real journeys, explorations in taste.
Whether we are talking about food or wine. From this point of view, the collaboration with the Artcaffè chain, which boasts sixty establishments (bars, lounges, wine shops and retail outlets) to which Gourmet Master is a supplier, has created 'Wine Tastings' and themed evenings within more than suitable settings, such as the enchanting Artcaffè Market wine shop in Rhapta Square. A few evenings ago, the 'Viva il Vino' event was staged, where Miano and his collaborators presented a selection of wines from Cantine San Marzano, an Apulian company that was also one of the protagonists of the Week of Cuisine and landed in Kenya thanks to Gourmet Master with a series of fine bottles.

Also delighting the participants (who enjoyed six different wines and a series of imported delicacies, including peppered and truffled pecorino cheese and cured meats of all kinds) were the 'lessons' of Cantine San Marzano's Italian sommelier, Sonia D'Elia, and her talented local colleague Valentina Kamau.
Seated at the tables, enthusiasts and curious people of all nationalities, with many Kenyans who have entered the Italian world of eating and drinking well with great enthusiasm and predisposition, and more and more knowledgeably, thanks to this intelligent, elegant and still uncommon way of 'making a night of it' in the African country.

On the Italians in Kenya portal we will give you advance notice of upcoming events and tell you about them.To taste the excellent San Marzano wines (including a Salice salentino with extraordinary value for money, an excellent rosé and a Verdeca with the unmistakable savouriness of the best white wines of the south. Not to mention the Primitivo di Manduria DOP 'Sessantanni', not for everyone but unforgettable, and the other wines that will be offered in the future, in Nairobi you can go to the Artcaffè Cellar, while on the coast to Roberto's Italian Shop in Nyali.