Future may hold more East African cuisine – Twin Cities

Situated on the first floor of an apartment and business complex on West Seventh and Sherman streets in St. Paul, La Fusion Cafe is serving up an eclectic menu of global-influenced fare, such as beef and lentil samosas, basil oil-infused crepes, jerk chicken quesadillas, among other items.

We checked in with founder/owner Benson Mwangi about how his casual order-at-the-counter cafe came to be and about so much more.

What’s your favorite childhood food memory? Crepes. I was born and raised in Kenya, and it was my favorite thing growing up. There we called them bean pancakes. When I went to culinary school and learned the French way of making crepes and using all kinds of flours, that made me love them even more.

What did you want to be when you grew up? My dream was to become a chef. I went to culinary school in Kenya.

What was your first job in food? From culinary school, I moved to Dubai to work at a French restaurant in the famous seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab. I would make all of the crepes. My wife, who I met in Kenya, had joined me in Dubai. I lived in Dubai for over eight years before we moved to Minnesota, where my brother lives.

How did opening your restaurant come about? I knew one day that I wanted to open a small restaurant. I’ve worked in so many restaurants, and I thought a smaller restaurant was crucial. Then you can control what comes out of your kitchen. I live in this building, and on the first floor it used to be all offices. When one of the businesses moved out and this space became available, I approached building management and asked if I could open a small coffee shop in this space. It took three years for all of the approvals and remodeling because everything was from scratch. We opened Oct. 2, 2017

What your food philosophy? We’re fusing different flavors and trying to bring food from around the world all into one place.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu right now? The savory crepe with turkey or ham because it has all of these fresh vegetables, a basil pesto and two kinds of cheese. We use a French flour to make the crepes.

What’s the last thing you cooked at home? Last night, I made beef goulash for the family.

If you had to eat or drink only five things for the rest of your life, what would they be? Kenyan tea — we have a Kenyan chai latte we serve here that I can’t live without. Beef. Chapati bread, which we make at home a lot. Samosas — I grew up on that and my oldest sister used to have a restaurant in Kenya just dedicated to samosas. A salad served with something warm like chicken on top of it.

What’s next? Because we are growing fast we’d like to eventually have a bigger space with a full kitchen so we can offer more dishes from around the world. I would especially like to try to concentrate more on East African cuisine. We’re also looking to expand on our current delivery service business.