GET TO BAOBOX!

By Peter Wahome.

25 for me came with a huge gift. God was not just smiling in me. He was grinning on me revealing all his teeth. First my 25th birthday met me at Jackson Biko alias Bikozulu’s Masterclass. It is a writing Masterclass where the Masters (Biko and Bett) class you to write as a master above what you mastered in class. (Eish! Am I on steroids?) Three full days of tips and nuggets that will chip off your amateur writing and impart professional writing.

Will write about that later.

So after the disappointment of ending that class I went home feeling masterclass-sick as in like homesick. During our Friday family’s bible study I informed them that it was my 25th birthday and my aunt was really exhilarated. She even threatened to wash me with the tea we had just taken.

My cousin Jackson later told me that I should inform him when I got home the next day which was a Saturday. I went to sleep curious but like any Kenyan I said Haithuru! I was just looking forward to Purpose Center men’s hangout in Ruaka which was to take place that Saturday.

Long day short, I went to Ruaka and was told the event had been postponed to the next Saturday. So all the money I spent going there was wasted. Sawa tu.

I arrived home in the evening and called Jackson to inform him I am home. He called me back in 20 minutes.

“So we are going to pick you up from the gate in five minutes. Please be on time.”

“Okay.”

Jackson and his wife picked me up in their Subaru and we rode -as Bett says- we rode into the sun. Ha-ha.

I never knew where we were headed but we arrived at the Majestic, creative, serene BaoBox restaurant in Westlands. That was the first time I had ever seen that place let alone hear about it.

It is beautiful. It is urban. It is bustling with life. It is artistic. It is just thinking out of the box illustrated. Once you enter the building you are greeted by beautiful art etched on a blackboard and well-crafted wood.

The interior design is dynamic. You have two counters placed almost opposite of each other each well packed with drinks, cutlery and china. In the middle is get this a whole shelf with a wide array of games that you can play while eating or waiting on your food to be ready.

There is monopoly, poker, kumiliki (the Kenyan version of monopoly), jenga where you displace little stacks of wood and place them on top till the whole building crumbles, scrabble, cards. I wish I get more time at the restaurant I will get all the details. But they have all sorts of games and I mean all. Like Nakumatt you need it, they’ve got it.

The food! I remember an ex used to say that she got food orgasm. Never got to understand what she meant (I thought it was really weird and inappropriate) till I got to partake of their roast chicken and fries. Saying it is out of this world is injustice to the phenomenal prowess put into preparing that meal.

It was soft, tender and well-cooked. Actually fully cooked. Delicious, engrossing and attractive are some of the words that can be used to describe it. What! Let me shock you. Even if you are full you will eat those chicken wings and drumsticks like your stomach was empty. My cousin and his wife asked me if I would be able to finish all that food. I did so effortlessly and involuntarily.

Their fries are well-dried up and have that subtle crispy, crunchy feel. Once you marry it with ketchup and put it in your mouth you cannot think about that girl who always drives you crazy can’t get off your mind. Trust me when you are eating those fries you will forget about her. (By the way it is good therapy if you are suffering heartbreak. Wink! Thank me later.)

My food came with a mushroom sauce that I was a bit sceptic about. Even looking at it I got more indifferent. I judged it harshly. When I tasted it however my heart shrank in remorse.

“Dear mushroom sauce, please forgive me for judging you by your looks. You are nothing close to what I thought about you.”

In short that sauce is not worth dying for, it is worth spending good bucks on, and it is worth living for.

Staff and waitresses at BaoBox will treat you with care and humanely. They are courteous and act professionally. They are very respectful and you feel very comfortable around them. Please get up there and have the experience of your lives.

Shout out to the amazing leadership at BaoBox. You guys are doing one heaven of a job. Keep at it. Great work.

Thanks to Jack and Linda his wife. You are match-made in heaven. Your kindness fills me with awe and God will increase you beyond your wildest imaginations.

God is amazing. Such a good start for my 25.