Years passed.
La Provence closed, the group drifted apart. But in 2018, a surprise reunion in Berlin brought back the same question:
"Where can we get real African food?"
They searched—and found nothing that truly captured the richness they remembered.
Then, a breakthrough.
The next summer, one member cooked a homemade dish that caught the attention of their West African host. The taste felt right—authentic, exciting. Momentum returned.
Even with COVID-19 slowing things down, research quietly continued. With help from a Cambridge-trained lawyer in the group, they pinpointed the problem:
African food was hard to access—and when found, it lacked the consistency to build trust.
They decided it was time to fix that.





