Urbanista Bistro, the 221 Way:)

Hello out there, hope this post finds you doing well:)

Hun hun je peux commencer, Ziiri (a Bambara word that means un conte ou histoire)..When I was a little girl ,every time there was a power outage my mother would tell us stories in Bambara . I remember my siblings & I listening with anticipation, lol stories of animals and words of wisdom lol ..those were the good old days:)

Anyways ..back to “my sorties dans Dakar”..This time it was to meet my friend Marissa who was visiting Dakar with her lovely children.She suggested we meet at @urbanista.bistro au Point E. This is the second friend of mine who while visiting from abroad suggested meeting at this bistro..I am going to ask them why they chose this particular place, I am curious to see if it’s internet suggested or friends reviews.

I believe I have been there twice before over a year ago. I remember the flower wall papers & the pink tone inside of the restaurant. While I was waiting for her, I ordered an orange juice and looked around. There were a few men lunching either in groups or en mode solo. I imagine that they work around the area..there are a lot of businesses and ONG’s around.

Soon after, my friend arrived with her little ones, I had met her 2 beautiful daughters when they were little and I was finally introduced to her cute little boy. We found seats for our big party of 5 , kids were given des crayons de couleurs and des feuilles de coloriage…that was a nice touch, it keeps children busy and entertained.

She ordered a seafood pizza for the children, for herself a burger and I had un medallion de boeuf & 1 gratin dauphinois. The ambiance in the bistro was chill, business guys were sharing laughter and good meals. We took our time, didn’t even feel the hours go by, she mentioned that it’s been 6 years since we had last seen each other ..time truly flies. I could not believe that Covid happened 6 years ago, it’s like it was just yesterday when we had to quarantine around the world..what a time !

I noticed the customers were mainly male ,several businessmen would come and go, lunch on their own or have other friends join them over time. It was interesting to see & hear men relax and talk among themselves, share laughter talk about life..let their guards down just as we would do among women. I noticed a beautiful duo of hijabi women coming in, laughing , sitting not far from us, and a few minutes later change sits..I think the presence of the group of men nearby made them shy lol I get it..it can be intimidating.

Marissa & I also chatted for hours …women talk lol, she’s a law professor in the US. It’s good to see friends achieve professional goals and contribute to society. Professors & teachers are so essential in all our lives, we all have that one teacher that inspired us to become better people and to go after our personal goals despite life difficulties. Anyways..it was really nice catching up with her & her lovely family:)

urbanista.bistro on IG.

‘Till next time InshAllah:)

Yaye