* Otunba Wanle Akinboboye
The Yoru’Bar Restaurant Experience is the 6th product in a series of 52 unique tourism products created by Tourism Icon Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, products which are being launched over a period of one year.
In the words of Otunba Akinboboye ‘Nothing compares to the Yoru’bar Experience’.
Although the name Yoru’Bar suggests an alliance with Yoruba food only, the intention is for this restaurant to showcase food from all parts of Africa. Its brand name was however coined to reflect the African roots of the food and entertainment it showcases.
Yoru’Bar is not just a restaurant and eating in a Yoru’Bar is not just an eating experience. It is more than that, it is a Tourism Experience that engages all of the senses and provides lifetime memories!
Otunba Akinboboye indicates that “Yoru’bar has been designed to showcase Africa’s unique cuisine and entertainment. The food served at the Restaurant is prepared live, in the presence of its guests, and in a manner design to entertain its guests.
During the cooking and eating process guests will enjoy African entertainment in the form of carefully crafted music and dance. The Yoru’Bar experience therefore delivers a complete and unique entertainment experience that caters to the five senses.
Guests will enter the restaurant barefooted and be seated in cubicles that contain hand washing bowls, as everyone is required to eat with their bare hands. The fact that guests feet are bare and their hands are the tools for eating is aligned to the culture of our continent and caters to the sense of touch.
Guests will become spectators of the food preparation process, as the cooking of the meals they select occurs right in front of them. This means the cutting of the pepper, the grinding of the tomatoes, the cooking of the yam, the making of the sauce, the frying of meat and the boiling of fish are used to create an entertainment experience for those who will eventually eat the outcome of the African culinary expertise on display.
While in Yoru’Bar guests will be fully engaged and entertained by the sights sounds and aromas around them.
They will be able to observe the cooking styles of the chefs while smelling the delicious aromas emanating from the food and hearing the melodious voices of the singers. All this will occur against the background of the beats of African drums intertwined with the pounding of yam.
Otunba Akinboboye noted that the Yoru’Bar can be re-created at any location across the African continent and beyond.
In his opinion, it provides interested tourism practitioners and young people with an opportunity to establish a scalable tourism based business. Given the current focus on growing local and international tourism in the continent, it provides an opportunity to plug into what is expected to become a major economic sector in Africa.
The product will also create employment opportunities for restaurant managers, chefs, Kitchen hands, waitstaff, dancers, musicians and entertainers. Such employment opportunities will cover a range of skill sets from university undergraduates to individuals with minimum educational qualification but superior skills in one of the restaurants offerings.
Otunba Akinboboye’s company, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resorts Limited can build, arrange and structure the product for entrepreneurs who want to offer the product pursuant to a franchise arrangement.
It is envisaged that each Yoru’Bar will employ at a minimum 8 chefs, 8 kitchen hands, 8 waitstaff, 6 musicians, 6 dancers and 6 dancers.
This means that not less than 42 persons will be employed by each Yoru’Bar and where this concept multiplies it can provide employment for thousands across Nigeria and Africa.
While applauding this innovative tourism product we look forward to the unveiling of the remaining products.
