Chef Sungani Phiri Launches 14-Course Zambian Menu at $215, Recasting Livingstone Fine Dining
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 1
Chef Sungani Phiri Launches 14-Course Zambian Menu at $215, Recasting Livingstone Fine Dining
1 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 1
Livingstone chef Sungani Phiri is drawing diners to his 22-seat home restaurant with “The Rebirth,” a 14- to 16-course tasting menu built entirely around Zambian ingredients and culinary memory.
The $215 experience sources everything within a 100km radius and applies molecular techniques to foods more often served traditionally, from cassava and bondwe to Zambezi bream, mabisi and dried caterpillars.
Phiri said the concept grew from a challenge to copy European fine dining; after training in South Africa, he opened Sungani in April 2025 to present what he calls “New Zambian cuisine.”
The meal doubles as a cultural narrative and training ground for young chefs, with dishes tied to regions such as the Copperbelt and Southern Province and service designed to feel like being welcomed into a Zambian home.
In a tourism market centered on Victoria Falls and safaris, Sungani aims to make cuisine itself a destination and put Zambia’s food culture on the global stage.
Beyond one acclaimed restaurant, what will it take to build a globally recognized Zambian culinary identity?
Can a $215 tasting menu truly represent a nation's culinary soul, or is it a new form of cultural export?
As Zambian cuisine goes global, can its wild, indigenous ingredients be sourced sustainably without damaging the local ecosystem?