The “Living Room” Restaurant…

…..where local dishes reign supreme

KOFI AYIM

On a typical Sunday, the Living Room restaurant, located in the enclaves of the rich and famous East Legon, bustles at the seams with revelers.  The 20-year-old restaurant started as a modest retirement dream project together with a living room–type movie house, according to Mr. Charles Mainoo, the owner and entrepreneur.  The movie house, however, faded into oblivion after about five years of service.

The Living Room restaurant, which is open seven days a week – from about 11 am to 10:30 pm – attracts about 1,300 people from near and far on a typical Sunday, especially for the characteristic emotuo brunch. Menus include but are not limited to Red Red, Tuo Zaafi, and Ampesie, fufuo, among others. Choices of light pepper soup, groundnut/peanut soup, and the like go with varieties of proteins such as goat and chicken meat as well as fish, dried or otherwise. The Tuo Zaafi comes with its proverbial slimy assortment of okra and greenery viscous texture or ayoyo soup. All may be eaten the natural way or by cutlery.

Mr. Mainoo pointed out that the Living Room restaurant is unique by the ingredients and condiments it employs in preparation of dishes. “We utilize healthy, local and traditional ingredients. We attempt to create an aura of grandma’s food back then without artificial preservatives; pepre (cloves), esoro wisa (black pepper), dawa dawa (locust beans), prekese (tetra pleura tetraptera), etc.,” he said with the conviction of a chef. Mr. Mainoo, who relocated to Ghana after retirement from his job in the United Kingdom, is conspicuously visible at peak hours of the restaurant. “We host guests, not customers, and interaction is a component of the business,” he philosophized. He said more hands would be employed to complement the over 100 full-time workers to meet the challenges of the yuletide.  

Mr. Mainoo said that the beauty of the Living Room restaurant is its ability to meet the budget needs of the average guest. One can eat like a king or like a pauper – from GHS25 to GHS500.

To meet the existential challenges of the Living Room, plans are in the pipeline to relocate to an expanded and roomy location within the boundaries of East Legon. The enterprising businessman conceded that continual improvement is anchored on the worker-guest relationship and emphasized that regular staff training is an integral part of the Living Room restaurant.

Meanwhile, the seemingly calm and confident Mr. Mainoo is bringing some workers’ benefits from the U.K. to his staff. He has instituted basic healthcare services, work-study plans and scholarship programs in education, and an offer of landed property for those with 10 years of meritorious work service.  

Posted by admin on Dec 12 2023. Filed under Artcultainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry