Home-cooked and hearty: This St. John's restaurant aims for a world of flavour
Mama Africa aims to represent a lot of countries in their merchandise, owner says
The only thing better than getting your favourite meal from home in a restaurant is cooking it yourself.
But if you're not originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, sometimes those homestyle ingredients can be hard to find in the province.
St. John's restaurant Mama Africa hopes to fix that problem.
Owner Navel Sarr opened the restaurant in April, and in addition to takeout service, it doubles as a grocery store.
"I decided to open a grocery store or restaurant because I feel the need is here in St. John's," Sarr said.
"Most African or [people of] afro-descent … when they came here they couldn't find … groceries, some products that you used to eat back home."
Before moving to Newfoundland, Sarr lived in Montreal.
"It's a very, very multicultural city, very big. You can find, like, almost everything. And when I came here it was difficult for me to find the product that I used to eat in Montreal, like African, West African food."
His restaurant offers a place for people to buy those hard-to-find products. The International aisle in many grocery stores is not all-encompassing, he said — foods from Africa or the Caribbean, for example, are hard to find.
The inspiration to open the restaurant dates back to 2019, when Sarr started SARFest — the St. John's African Roots Festival.
A music festival without food is "not complete," he said, and people were asking about having African food. He knew there weren't many options in the city and hoped someone would open a restaurant with an inclusive menu.
A few years later, that someone was him.
"The population is here in St. John's," he said.
And when they see the array of items he carries, they're surprised.
"We try to have, like, very specific product that you can't find in the city," he said. "We try to represent a lot of countries."
At Mama Africa, you can find food from Africa, the Caribbean, Spain, France, Egypt — and if they don't have what you're looking for, Sarr will try to source it.
From coffee and tea to over 20 kinds of spices, Sarr tries to have a little something for everyone.
"Even one item," he said. "It makes a difference.… The people feel, like, very very, very happy and included in the store."
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With files from The St. John's Morning Show
