Dinner with Vinie O

Lucy Munene

Who doesn’t love a hearty dinner filled with good wine and great conversation? We do and we decided that our first guest at the Yummy dinner table would be the eclectic Vincent Ochieng aka Vinie O aka The Captain at Harvest Restaurant in Village Market.

Vinie O at Harvest Restaurant

Brian Siambi (Urbanskript)

Some people don’t like interviews. They like to sit in restaurants, order a giant burger and get to know each other. This is exactly what happened one evening right before Nairobi’s sweater weather appeared in a fit of long-awaited rain.

Harvest Restaurant

Brian Siambi (Urbanskript)

Before we could even order drinks (or browse through the menu), the banter began.

V: What I always do whenever I go to a new restaurant is I Google the menu. I don’t necessarily pick what I want to eat, I just like to have a feel of the menu. That’s why I like restaurants that provide their menus online.

Imagine Vinie’s (and the rest of us) surprise when we found out that our meal had been picked for us in advance.

So how is the new job going?

V: It’s interesting because I was previously at Capital for 10-12 years. The decision to move on from there was challenging. During this time I fully concentrated on Twitter for another 5-6 years which was really good. I got campaigns on my own, built a lifestyle platform and started my own blog. One of the highlights was the biggest campaign I did for Kenya Airways which was their inaugural flight to New York. I was the only Kenyan Twitter social media influencer on that flight.

That’s great!

V: It really is. So after all this when Capital offered me this job, I was excited to be coming back to something different that wasn’t radio. That’s exactly what I wanted and I’m enjoying it. It means someone noticed what I was doing and I now use it to encourage people especially the ones with a social media presence. You never you who is watching and you never know where it will take you.

You mentioned Twitter and we’re curious: what does your social media handle mean?

V: When Kenya Airways brought the first Dreamliner, I was on that campaign and previously people on Twitter would see me post all these pictures of planes. Add on the fact that they couldn’t figure out where I worked so they assumed I was a pilot and started calling me Captain and I ran with it! The second part of my handle comes from the British-Ghanian designer Boateng Ozwald. I love his style and would really love to meet him one day.

Let’s talk style then. How do you come up with all your impressive outfits?

V: Let’s start with the fact that everything I am wearing today is Kenyan made. I work with my own tailors. I have two who I pass on my concept to and once I have picked the material I leave it to them to run with it. I like it because you get a proper fitting and you get what you want.

It’s at this point that we are informed that we will be eating a giant burger that might just be the most impressive dish at Harvest Restaurant. There were a few sceptical looks around the table because we didn’t believe it would be enough to feed 4 hungry people who had sat through traffic for the better part of an hour.

Before we demolish the giant burger, give us some advice about dating Vinie O.

V: I always say whoever I date has to like going out for dinner. If you don’t like it then it’s a problem. I like early dinners that start at 6 pm then you can sit back and relax and enjoy. Also, I think dating a photographer would be nice because you get good pictures. If I was dating a chef, I would be hosting dinners all the time for us. I’d also love to travel together.

Read the rest of the interview on www.yummy.co.ke