Shifting the paradigm

Desiree Gases

Taste opened it doors for the first time on 6 November at 40 Eros Road, General Murtala Muhammed Avenue, at the restaurant previously known as The Edge.

As humans, we judge food by the way the it looks, how it is presented, how it smells, how it performs or behaves while we taste it, how it feels on the tongue and how it makes us feel. And Dos Santos understands that, because food has always been a part of his background because of his Angolan heritage, where food is centred around flavour, quality and the representation of food when it’s in a certain space of coexistence.

Taste has two selling points in terms of products, which are beverages and food. The beverages range from anything alcoholic to non-alcoholic but Taste wants to be known for its cuisine, because they plan on making the culinary industry more exciting, whether that is with fine dining, street food or any contemporary cuisine.

“We want to tell stories within our food; we want people to always get excited about our food and that’s why, with our menu we decided to do something that no one else is doing,” says Dos Santos.

Taste’s end goal is to consistently provide their customers with quality service delivery, to put an organic food element in the forefront of the culinary experience and to shift the paradigm when it comes to originality.

Opening any business always starts with a passion and opening a modern eatery has always been part of Dos Santos’s seven-year plan. Becoming a culinary professional requires a lot of passion, hard work, discipline, determination and effort because the hours are long and the work is physically demanding, and it has always been a long game for Dos Santos.

Careers asked Dos Santos about the challenges he faced being in the culinary industry and Dos Santos said, “This is an industry that is very capital intensive and I overcame that by having partnered with the right people, having a contingency plan and letting go of the fear of the unknown.”