Breakfast at Geco Cafe along Mbaazi Avenue — it feels like the right place to be.
Being on-trend in the restaurant business isn’t difficult: sniff the air to work out which direction the choma grill smoke is blowing from, peruse the Instagram pages and try to choose which trends would work for a particular season — sounds easy? However, being up to date while remaining true to yourself takes more skill, and Geco Cafe founder Mateus Finato has it.
Some of the best journeys bring you right back home. Mateus Finato has been on exactly that journey. For over a decade he has enjoyed his most passionate moments sprucing up meals from across the world, from his modest upbringing in Brazil, to Europe, and to Africa — in Kenya, where he calls home.
Geco Cafe started in 2017. It was a humble dream and a way to start over after working tirelessly in various restaurants in Nairobi. Perched close to Nairobi’s first automated car wash — Geco Carwash — the owner Rodger Pfeiffer, a good friend to Mateus, understood his dream and rented him the space to start his business. “I had a small budget to rework the space, I reused most of the material that was available to recreate what we are on now,” Mateus says, having veered off from the “fancy, instagrammable spaces of Nairobi.”
Geco Cafe and its yearning to feed
There is nothing peculiar about an eatery next to a carwash, especially in Kenya. However, with Geco Cafe there is a striking and alluring sense of community which has been great for many expats and local patrons alike.
Mateus Finato is a chef, sommelier, art enthusiast, husband — and fellow creative. I first ate his eminently trustworthy food in 2018. Back then and till now, there was a touch of homeliness to his cooking. The space has been steadily gaining attention since it opened, and has morphed to become a blend of everything you come to Nairobi for in the first place: a workspace, library of sorts, coffee shop, bar and live venue all rolled into one.
A unique thing with Mateus is appreciating and giving back to society. Geco Cafe supports most local businesses — the owner sources most of his ingredients, organic veggies from local produce, and the décor and most of the aesthetic touches have been locally sourced too.
The Geco Cafe Acoustic Brewed Sessions
“I do appreciate art in every form, music is one that I appreciate the most”, says Mateus. An avid music lover, he saw the potential to incorporate an intimate live music session in the cafe.
He reached into his network and nailed his first jazz session act, Tim Riungu. The first few months of Acoustic Brewed Sessions meant a small crowd — “Sometimes, he would be playing to a very small audience, which would include my three team of staff,” he recalls fondly, remembering paying out of pocket to source sound equipment.
It was these moments of learning how to work on sound, set up a stage, and appreciate musicians after a session that bore fruit to Acoustic Brewed Sessions, which now runs from Wednesday till Sunday and pays for itself. The concept, as he tells me, is to create intimacy, a connection and bridge the gap between the audience and the musicians.
Over time, the music-enthusiast crowd grew organically through word of mouth. It has become an institution, and where a good chunk of local musicians get their start (and find their future bandmates). Depending on the night of the week, the vibe can go from chill acoustic to clubby, but you can be sure to catch something special whenever you stop by.
The coveted Geco Expeditions
Kenya is well renowned as a safari space, yet there’s so much more to unearth. Mateus and his group of friends yearned to enjoy the ‘bundus’ and make a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of Nairobi. Each weekend, the group would saddle up their camping gear and drive through treacherous terrains in search of something different, setting up camp to enjoy the lushness of life in the wild.
This hobby has grown to incorporate their local patrons too — the Geco Expeditions team now lets people pay a small fee to be part of the trips.
“For me, it is about real good food, good portions, good prices, good vibes and food made with love,” says Mateus. Geco Cafe is a space that makes its point one dish at a time, so that what could seem at first to be just a nice enough lunch or dinner turns out to have been rather more than that. Geco Cafe is a labour of love.