Upon further inspection I discovered that Nando's does different menu covers with different artwork from South African artists. They have been supporting their art since 2002 and it has become a signature part of their company not only in their menus but in their walls and decorations.
I did some more research on it and found some really interesting things on their website. Apparently, they hold the largest collection of South African artwork outside of South Africa.
One particular work that caught my attention and is very relevant to this course is called Coming to the City. It is a huge mosaic placed in of Nando's King Cross location in London. Made by Clive van de Berg it is a representation of "the experiences of the many thousands of people that have journeyed to London." Here is the link to the project's webpage where you can see the full mosaic in detail:
http://www.nandos.co.uk/comingtothecity/
Very cool stuff, V.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, every time I hear of this place I have to say it in my head like the announcer at the Boston Gardens says the last name of Rajan Rondo. Nando's!
On an even less relevant note, every time I see a Wings restaurant in the US, I picture thousands of chickens walking around with no arms.
I apologize in advance to anyone who has read these comments, excepting the first one. And even apologize for apologizing.
That's so neat!
ReplyDeleteThat's really cool. Do you know why they are such advocates of South African Art in particular?
ReplyDeleteApparently, a long time ago some explorers from Portugal settled in Mozambique where they get got some aspects of their recipes (specifically they got their famous PEri-Peri seasoning/pepper). Like 400 years later these settlers moved to Johannesburg during a gold rush and made Peri-Peri chicken for the miners. The first restaurant to use this recipe was called Chickenland and it was in a mining town in South Africa. When Robert and Fernando visited in 1987 they fell in love with the chicken and bought the restaurant, changing its name to Nando's.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, they are advocated of South African art because that's where the restaurant originated. If you go on their website they have a little interactive history and it's pretty entertaining (Even though I basically just paraphrased it and wrote it here).
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ReplyDeleteThat's really neat! I guess I could've/should've just gone on their website so you wouldn't have had to go through trouble, huh? Thanks sharing that!
ReplyDeleteI love how they really and genuinely advocate South African art. Too often now-a-days there are so many different restaurants that have a lot of varying ingredients and tastes that hail from different places but are not really recognized except by the "theme" of the restaurant. I think we need more places like Nando's to advocate the origins of some of their food rather than just prettying up a place with what is perceived to be a food's culture.
ReplyDelete