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The restaurant specializes in modern interpretations of traditional
African dishes, and especially South African dishes. 4Roomed serves a five-course tasting menu at a single communal table. Customers are approximately 30% local residents and the remainder tourists.
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said it was "disrupting the South
African food scene with its re-imagined township cuisine that challenges notions of what constitutes fine dining." Mbalo-Mokoena also has a casual restaurant and carryout a few blocks from 4Roomed.
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magazines as one of the 30 best restaurants in the world. It is one of only three restaurants in Africa to make the list; the others are
Johannesburg's
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156:(townships). Mbalo-Mokoena was raised in this type of home. In the house where she grew up, "every room was a bedroom, the kitchen, the lounge."
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and three years later moved into a four-roomed house. The restaurant is named for the four-room, multi-family bungalow typical in South Africa's
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and grew up in
Khayelitsha. She worked as a dental technologist for 17 years before opening the restaurant and in 2014 was working at
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Mbalo-Mokoena trained as a dental technologist. She is married to Sam
Mokoena. The couple have two sons and one daughter. She is of
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township, 30 kilometres (19 mi) outside Cape Town, South Africa. In 2019 4Roomed was named in a combined project by
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Contracts, Patronage and
Mediation: The Articulation of Global and Local in the South African Recording Industry
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100:. She is the chef, owner and creative director of 4Roomed, also called 4Roomed eKasi Culture or just eKasi, in
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She decided to open a restaurant because she felt that South Africa wasn't celebrating its own food heritage.
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Mbalo-Mokoena is self-taught. The restaurant opened in 2014 as a food truck parked next to a
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where she reached the top six. In 2019 4Roomed was named in a combined project by
292:"This Chef is Returning to Her Roots—Literally—With Her South African Restaurant"
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491:"Former MasterChef contestant's eatery reinvents traditional African food"
376:"The One Cape Town Restaurant You Can't Miss Isn't Exactly a Restaurant"
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Mbalo-Mokoena and her husband, who were living in the Cape Town suburb
598:"Afrique du sud : un chef réinvente la nourriture traditionnelle"
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573:"Promising tourism businesses rewarded in the Cape | IOL Travel"
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625:"Khayelitsha chef gives Switzerland a taste of eKasi cuisine"
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magazines as one of the 30 best restaurants in the world.
257:"Abigail Mbalo, Masterchef contestant and restaurateur"
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In 2014 Mbalo-Mokoena competed on the third season of
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463:"4Roomed eKasi Culture Food Truck in Cape Town"
405:"eKasi cuisine from Khayelitsha to the world"
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130:Cape Peninsula University of Technology
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623:Zingithwa, Zola (13 September 2018).
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677:"Fine fare is only 4Rooms away here"
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521:Around the World in 80 Food Trucks
438:"The Marvelous Mrs. Mbalo-Mokoena"
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166:called it "backyard fine dining."
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675:Baadjies, Megan (27 March 2017).
651:"EKasi eatery serves up culture"
403:Peterson, Tammy (8 March 2017).
374:Yagoda, Maria (20 August 2019).
329:Rodell, Besha (20 August 2019).
255:French, Laura (14 August 2019).
230:heritage and her husband, South
649:Booysen, Joseph (1 June 2019).
144:Mbalo-Mokoena in her food truck
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82:https://4roomedekasiculture.com
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604:(in French). 4 April 2017
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524:. Lonely Planet. 2019.
179:MasterChef South Africa
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124:Mbalo-Mokoena born in
718:People from Cape Town
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90:Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena
66:4Roomed eKasi Culture
61:Current restaurant(s)
25:Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena
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102:Khayelitsha
723:MasterChef
702:Categories
681:Daily News
602:Africanews
237:References
207:Philosophy
120:Early life
686:23 August
660:23 August
634:23 August
608:20 August
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472:23 August
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414:20 August
385:21 August
340:20 August
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126:Gugulethu
495:CapeTalk
78:Website
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409:News24
296:Saveur
232:Sotho.
163:Saveur
442:Issuu
228:Xhosa
154:eKasi
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553:ISBN
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