Before the supper club concept found its form and expression in the city of Johannesburg, creative-turned-cook Mpho Phalane had already tapped into the alchemy behind the soulful experience of gathering and sharing a meal around the table. Through this mode of communion – gleaned from her childhood in Soweto – she revives the beauty of South Africa’s humble foods and reshapes conversations and representations of SA’s evolving culinary identity. With food, she also voices her politics and cultural commentary and holds space for creative storytelling.

Building community with Food, I Love You

“My earliest food memories have a lot to do with being at my grandparents’ place. We had a very strong family unit, constantly spending weekends together at their house with my cousins, aunts and uncles. We each brought our own dish and that sharing and communion around the table was very central to us. It shaped how I constantly want to move around community,” Mpho says.

The intimate dinners she’d host for friends at her apartment, and the care she put into them, inspired the formation of her business Food, I Love You when she became stuck and pivoted from an advertising career.

Food, I Love You began as a regular pop-up dining experience at her then-studio space at the Victoria Yards creative precinct in 2013. The popularity of the pop-up – which occurred on the first Sunday of every month – was due to its commitment to reflecting people’s identities and connecting them to the vibrant, experimental and warmly presented meals. This ethos continues and evolves at Mpho’s Food, I Love You Kitchen, a permanent restaurant at the Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct.

Sweet revolution

Constitution Hill is heavy with history and resilience. The precinct is a former prison and military fort turned museum and home to the Constitutional Court. It also brims with optimism. At a far corner, past the Women’s Prison and Ahmed Kathrada exhibitions, is Food, I Love You Kitchen. It’s an oasis of warmth and comfort that subverts the cold concrete of the old prison kitchen into something welcoming and special, perfect for workday or weekend lunches and curated occasions. From the vibrant harvest table of fresh goodies to elevated roast chicken dishes and modernised indigenous grain salads, the food is high in comfort, nourishment and flavourful colour. Mpho works with the remnants of the history of the space – in its design and spirit – to bring soul into the food and dining experience.

“Being here has taught me to be mindful about the Constitution. How it was so well thought out and written in a way that is open for expansion. That consideration made me think about myself in the space,” says Mpho.

“Justice Albie Sachs speaks about sweet vengeance when he relates the story of how the people who tried to kill him were now incarcerated by this very government and democracy that he was fighting for. For my context, I coined the analogy: sweet revolution. To use humble food in its simplest form but to present it with so much beauty is the sweetest thing. It’s about commanding beauty back into our lives and spaces. Working with the same sorghum that was used to oppress people, and now spotlighting its vibrancy and nutritional value, is triumphant. It is about representation at the end of the day. For a long time, we moved in spaces where we didn’t get to see our own food. It was relegated to the periphery, tainted by shame. My biggest job, if anything, is to constantly challenge that.”

She claims her heritage by cooking from memory and intuition, and combines this with her love for Mediterranean, North African and Middle Eastern food.

“Even when you represent your culture, you are also part of the global community,” she says.

Mpho is a unique voice in a generation of chefs and cooks currently dipping into their cultures, stories and locales to redefine SA and continental cuisine through a contemporary lens. With Food, I Love You Kitchen, she extends the space to others and curates innovative dining experiences where food is a catalyst for creative collaborations and storytelling.

Cultural storyteller

Mpho’s supper club pop-ups have included the ‘Beyond the Table’ dinner series, which featured visual artists and designers sharing personal stories and artistic processes. Her novel culinary gatherings are similar to and different from Chef Sanza Sandile’s Yeoville Dinner Club, which presents curated food stories and reimagined African cuisine over a long table. Together they represent Joburg’s eclectic and authentic spirit that sets its own tone.

Mpho’s recent collaboration with Nando’s as part of the G20 Summit saw her create a Jozi Street Sauce that captures the city’s energy and cultural richness. The result is a limited-edition naartjie atchar peri peri flavour that is an ode to her roots and the city that made her.

“The brief was: What would Joburg taste like? Joburg is bold. It’s unapologetic. It’s about always making a plan. It’s a masala mix of cultures. This collaboration was a lesson in freeing myself from doubt and trusting where I come from. My uncle is passionate about atchar. No meal is complete without it. This was about showing up and giving the most honest parts of me. Food is a conduit for that expression,” Mpho says.