Chef Cosmas Kituku
Languages spoken include Kiswahili, English, Portuguese…
Chef Cosmas’ tantalizing culinary journey started all the way in the city of London, where he went for further studies in culinary education. He holds a diploma in Culinary Art from Hammersmith college in the UK, and a diploma in Pastry majoring in Chocolate and Sugar work from Lewisham college, also in London.
Chef Cosmas grew up in the coastal town of Mombasa, and is passionate about seafood and coconuts; when both are mixed with Zanzibari spices, then you know what he is talking about.
With a drive to constantly strive for more, Chef Cosmas has transformed the shape of African cuisine – and cooking – altogether through a glitzing career of over 35 years to date.
He has been on a culinary adventure that saw him serve the most sought-after brands in the hospitality industry, ranging from the Sarova group of hotels in Kenya, Marriott in London, UK, and Serena group of hotels, worldwide. He is currently the resort Executive Chef for Baobab Beach Resort comprising of three hotels, Baobab, Kole Kole, and Maridadi.
Throughout his celebrated career, Chef Cosmas has interacted with many celebrity chefs around the world and has cooked for dignitaries i.e. The Queen of Egland, His highness the Aga Khan, Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton, King Buthelezi, and many many more.
He says, “Kutembea kwingi ni Kuona Mengi”, which means the more you travel, the more you learn – especially when it comes to cooking.
He has mentored a lot of young chefs across from Africa: Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, and Sierra Leone; and he feels proud when he sees young executive chefs in Kenyan hotels. He is a big campaigner for home-grown talent and believes that the culinary colleges in Kenya are good enough to produce professional chefs.
He feels that the government should support Kenya Utalii College, like other governments in the world support their local colleges, in order to support the upcoming international hotels in the country and to boost the tourism industry.
He is very concerned about the girl child in the hotel industry, especially in the kitchen
Very few women in Kenya are executive chefs and he believes that this can be attributed to our culture. Chefs work long hours and that works against married women.
