Developers in London are seeking advice from Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on a stunning new £5.5 million restaurant/nightclub that will showcase South African goods and products. The venue which will open in May 2010 will be called Shaka Zulu after the revered Zulu King. And King Goodwill has been invited as Guest of Honour. The Shaka Zulu project is underway right in the heart of London at Camden Market, a top tourist ‘hot spot’.
Covering 26,000 ft it will be a huge venue with a capacity of 850 incorporating not only an upmarket restaurant and separate nightclub but also a VIP lounge, cocktail lounge and oyster bar and a space for 450 people to watch regular floorshows. The cuisine will be broadly South African prepared by top chefs. The developers fully expect the venue to be a regular haunt of the rich and famous. £2 million is being spent on huge hand carved wooden panels that will adorn most of the wall space throughout the venue. One panel depicting an elephant is 60ft high, 30ft wide and 6ft deep!
A 45ft bronze statue of King Shaka will stand at the entrance. The man behind the project is Roger Payne who has long been a mainstay of the London restaurant club scene. He admits to having been fascinated by King Shaka for most of his life. ‘It started when I was very young in school when I became enthralled by the differences between Zulu and British culture around King Shaka’s time and it has continued right up until the present day. King Shaka casts a long shadow. He is remembered and revered as a unifier of the Zulu nation.’ Mr Payne and his team have spent long hours at the British Museum in London researching King Shaka. But they have been in contact with King Goodwill Zwelithini out of sheer respect for Zulus and to get more advice on culture and history.
A meeting between the King and Mr Payne is planned for late January in South Africa. Mr Payne and his team have been trying to do as many deals as possible with South African companies like Distell who produce Savanna Cider which has become very popular in the UK. They are also dealing with the Bayede company, a powerful job creation enterprise endorsed by His Majesty the King. South African food, wines and beers will be on sale throughout the venue but at the same time a huge L-shaped glass display cabinet is being built at the entrance to hold ll kinds of South African goods including artwork from Zulus themselves. ‘London of course is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world’, says Mr Payne, ‘but never before will it have seen anything like Shaka Zulu.’
Note: The Shaka Zulu project is hoping to progress a relationship with Education Africa, the charity which helps disadvantaged children. Earlier this year Education Africa with the help of Elton John, Sting and Sir Richard Branson managed to raise £500,000 at an auction in London’s Mayfair Hotel. It is hoped that the Shaka Zulu premises can be put to equally good use. It is also hope that ‘synergies’ can be created with the new King Shaka Airport and the London venue.
Very interesting article.Its fullfilling knowing that our culture and history touches poeple of all walks of life.Indeed the Shaka Zulu Resataurante will draw a lot of attention in Europe.
The restaurant should be open mid-april to a huge fanfare with Guests of Honour being Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and his wife Queen Mantfombi.There is already Europe wide interest.
Good day my name is Thando from south africa.I saw the Shaka Zulu theme venue on the news and its beauty caught my eye.I have a Zulu traditional female group called AFRICA TODAY.it will be such a great idea if Mr Roger Payne can grant us the opportunity to perfom at the launch it will be a great honour for us and we will make him proud.We can showcase for him when he comes to see HIS MAJESTY KING ZWELITHINI.We are based in Johannesburg South Africa.My mobile no.+27721973602 email-nthandosashar@yahoo.com RIGARDS THANDO SASHAR JIYANE