How the Noir Gallery gallery has changed

Last week, my wife and I went for lunch at the Noir Gallery. We had heard that there had been a number of changes, so we went to check it out and to have a chat with one of the owners, Robyn Anyonge.

Robyn had opened the restaurant and gallery in December 2020 – the worst of times, because of Covid with its restrictions on mixing and warnings about curfew breaking. We were interested to find out how she had survived and what changes she had made.

Noir is in Muthangari Drive, close to Waiyaki Way and opposite where J’s Fresh Bar and Kitchen used to be. Robyn told us that when J’s closed a number of its regulars crossed the road and asked if Noir was the new J’s. She told them ‘No, but you are welcome!’ It is a very different place – a garden restaurant, with a tree-shaded bar and a kitchen up the steps of an unusual house, where there is an art gallery, a boutique shop and meeting rooms.

Noir’s slogan, a rather odd mix of a verb and nouns, is ‘Eat. Music. Art’. A week last Thursday, we sampled them in that order.

The sun was shining, so we chose a seat in the garden, not far from the bar, which is in a more prominent place than when we visited Noir soon after it opened. The music was what I guess these days would be called ‘cool’ – a mix of traditional and contemporary jazz. But Robyn told us it is chosen according to the time of day and the kind of people present.

Robyn says the menu is a fusion of cuisines. Reading through it, you can detect influences from America, Brazil, England, Germany, India, Italy, North Africa, Korea, and Thailand. I think you could add East Africa in what I chose – Coconut & Lime Red Snapper with a delicious coconut sauce.

It was North Africa for my vegetarian wife – the Moroccan Cauliflower Taco, with beetroot, baked cauliflower, honey, harissa, tahini, cilantro yogurt dressing and salad leaves. Both dishes were attractively presented. The wine list is good, too.

I reckon you could also call the place a fusion. The art gallery is on the ground floor, a large, well-lit room that has a sequence of exhibitions of work by local artists. And it can be used for meetings. The walls of the corridor to the back of the house also display paintings, and it looks out to a small and enclosed water garden.

Upstairs, the Noir Boutique has an excellent stock of artisanal brands of clothes, skin care products and light fittings. There are spaces for small meetings, too. And the imaginative décor in itself is a work of art.

Another new feature is the Wandering Goat Coffee Shop at a corner of the house. It is comfortably furnished and open to the garden. That’s where we went after lunch for our coffee and a chat with Robyn. Keeping Noir open during the Covid time, she admits, was very tough. She knows that, at any time, keeping a restaurant going can be a hard business. She believes that it is important not only to maintain quality but also to keep creating.

We could see that is what Robyn and her partner have done. The quality of food has been consistently high, but the menu has evolved. The art gallery is more alive than it was in its early phase. There are more activities now. Like the live music events and the Sunday family days, where children can enjoy a bouncy castle, have their faces painted or do some balloon modelling, while their parents and friends relax over their food and drinks under the shade of the garden trees.

To find out more about Noir, go to Instagram noirgallery.ke and noirboutique.ke.

John Fox is Chairman of iDC Email: [email protected]