Night at the museum with a taste of historic Italian culture [REVIEW]

He, however, never lost his passion for mission work and would go on to found the Consolata Missionaries, who would carry out his vision to all the far-flung places of the world. In 1901 Kenya would become one such place when the first Consolata missionaries from Italy set foot in the country and celebrated mass under a Mugumo tree in central Kenya.

This was the start of a relationship between our two countries that has lasted over a hundred years and was celebrated with the opening of “Dining with Italy” exhibit on November 19, 2025. Though the link between Kenya and Italy was the common theme, the scene that night could not have been further from what one imagines under that Mugumo tree 123 years ago.

Against the Victorian facade of the Nairobi National Museum, the event was inaugurated by Ambassador designate Vincenzo del Monaco who was flanked by two bright red sports cars, (a vintage Alfa Romeo and Ferrari) that had been both brought from Italy for the event.

The exhibit was curated by the Biblioteca e Museo della Cucina 'Garum' and Menu Associati was held to commemorate Italian cuisine around the world over the past 100 years.

Appropriately the hosts brought out an incredible array of preserved menus covering a century of Italian history all the way from the period immediately preceding the Risorgimento, the years of the Monarchy, its collapse and finally modern Italy all in a 500-square-metre. 

The exhibits were extraordinary. The centrepiece of the night was a table carved by Maestro Tommaso Cascella, a world-renowned Italian painter and sculptor, who created the work in tandem with Kenyan artists in Nairobi and titled it “Arch, Bridge, Scale, Rainbow of Peace and Work,” to be donated to the Ambassador's residence.

The grand table functioned as the centrepiece of the evening and was ringed by the exhibited menus which you would go across the room looking at and for any fan of history the exhibits were a true privilege to have experienced.

For instance; there were menus for Savoyard royal banquets written in calligraphed French so intricate you could barely make out the letters, with colourful hand drawn illustrations of footmen and soldiers in full court regalia.

The exhibited menus, much like the dishes they were presenting, were garnished with flowers, slices of dried orange, sprigs of rosemary, twigs of cinnamon; all creating an incredible sensory experience that of course left everyone starving. Thankfully, because our hosts were Italian, we did not have to wait long for a good meal.

Nairobi's community of Italian restaurateurs and wine merchants pulled out the stops to give us a full culinary treatment of Italy thematically appropriate for the night with caprese and arrancin canapes, the best risotto I’ve ever had, gelato and Italian pastries for dessert, and enough wine and prosecco to have drowned an elephant.

Halfway through the night the wine and pleasant conversation was cut by the roar of V12 engine and a Lamborghini drove slowly into the cocktail party to everyone's pleasant surprise (mostly because we were all wondering how they drove it here on Kenyan roads).

The event was a high point not just for the relationship between Kenya and Italy but also a cultural high point for the National Museum and for the city as a whole, Nairobi is seeming to have a debutantes ball on the world, stage with events like this and our reputation as a regional hub now expanding into that of a more global cultural city.

Kenya hasn’t been any stranger to hosting regional events, AFCON, the Kenya Golf Open, The St Leger, Safari Sevens, Safari Rally, but increasingly the city seems to be opening up to the world in a way that will change its face forever. We’re living in a city at an inflection point and it’s an incredible time to be living here.