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The rise and rise of Yo Maps

  Yo Maps Originally published in the Zambia Daily Mail  By VICTOR KALALANDA For any ardent follower of Zambian music, there appears to be enough reason to believe that celebrated Zambian artiste Yo Maps (real name, Elton Mulenga) is nothing short of extraordinary. If he was average, as his detractors would desperately have us believe, he wouldn’t have lasted more than six months on the local music scene after releasing his smash hit song “Finally.” He would have disappeared like snow in the summer sun. The unwritten rule in the music industry is that without a decent prior music catalogue, any artiste who happens upon instant fame is destined to become the infamous one-hit wonder. In any cut-throat field of human endeavor, big doors don’t swing on small hinges. The roots must run deeper than outward appearances, or else nothing lasts. For an artiste that keeps exceeding public expectations since rapturously coming to the notice of the nation in 2018, Yo Maps proves that not on
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First, only Zambian restaurant in North America

 

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The Pilgrim, June 17, 2022*

Two weeks ago, when I wrote about who’s who among Zambians in the United States, I got a surprise text from within the USA amid a handful of feedback emails from local readers of this column in Zambia.

“Hi, Victor.  Wow!” the message read in part. “I just read the article in the Zambia Daily Mail. You were recording? Am waiting for you to visit Stango.”

What followed shortly after that was a link to the restaurant’s website.

The first click landed me on the site’s home page, which proclaims the restaurant’s perhaps most important unique selling point: “Good food cooked with love – Stango Cuisine, the first and only Zambian restaurant in North America.”

One of the most famous Zambians in the USA, James Mwape, reportedly read and circulated the article when it was published. The feedback was instant and great.

Of course, I did indicate that I recently met different Zambians who’ve made fortunes in the USA in their chosen industries such as construction and hospitality.

So the email came through Mubanga Chanda, a clearly bubbly Zambian woman who co-owns the restaurant and serves as its chef.

This was indeed a pleasant surprise to say the least. Have you heard of that? Stango? For me it’s the first time.

The name itself has a playful tone, which might unwittingly convey the humourousness of the Zambian spirit. Think of the Bemba saying waimona stango? I’ve to find out if the term means situation, but it’s definitely Zambian slang.

Having received exclusive invitation to the restaurant, my column will, going forward, publish a series of articles on the success of this Zambian business in the United States of America.

Next week, I’ll be travelling to Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana Illinois, where the restaurant is located, to sample the food menu which features unique Zambian dishes such as nshima, chicken gizzards, Stango Chicken Pie, and Chicken Gizzards.

It’s easy to salivate over the pictures I’ve already seen because it’s the unmistakable and delicious look of Zambian food cooked the Zambian way.

Even more interesting will be the opportunity to find out the local opinion about the cuisine served here.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the food they cook are favourite dishes in this part of the United States.

Americans are wont to eat outside most of the time. The nature of the society allows for such luxury.

Not only are the people too busy to cook their own food through the day, but the American population descends from different regions of the world and adapts by eating different types of food because the original food of different people tends to be lost through the long and arduous process of immigration. Not that the people forget to cook, but when you’ve been away from home for far too long, it becomes harder to cook the food of your choice. The ingredients are also hard to find, so you take to international cuisine.

So international food, including that of the Zambian type, is part of the American identity.

Where I stay in Edwardsville alone, we’ve at least ten different restaurants—Mexican, Chinese and Indian—surrounding us.

They all have interesting names, just like Zambia’s Stango. The Mexicans call theirs Viva la Fiesta, which is understood as “long live the party.” They believe in eating and partying like there is no manana, which means tomorrow.

What strikes me is the claim that Stango is the only Zambian restaurant in North America. I’ll have to establish the veracity of this sensational assertion because clearly if the other African restaurants I hear about aren’t Zambian, then they must me born of this undertaking or owned by other African nationals.

It would be nice if the Matebeto concept in Lusaka’s Thornpark area overflowed to the United States. I’m confident it would sell like hot cakes; it would catch on like a plague. Just the same way restaurants satisfy millions of hungry stomachs every day in the USA, it’s the same way Matebeto continues to save many working Zambians from starvation after a stressful day in Lusaka.

But Stango in America must be unique. Maybe when I visit it the food will be so delicious that I’ll not just stop at eating, but also wash some dishes. Or not?

*This column is published every Friday in Zambia's best-selling newspaper, the Zambia Daily Mail

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