From Kenya With Love Pt. 3: A Sold-Out Evening of Food, Music, and Storytelling
Black history is American history — but it’s also global history. The African diaspora connects Black communities across continents, and one of the best things about Black History Month is the chance to celebrate that connection — to step into another culture and experience it through food, music, and stories shared firsthand.
On Valentine’s Day, Michelle Mulimba hosted From Kenya With Love — the third installment of her annual cultural dinner series. This year, Michelle hosted the event in her own venue, Stunna’s, the business she built from the ground up. Tickets sold out almost immediately.
A Three-Course Journey Through Kenyan Cuisine
Michelle’s entire career is built around the belief that food is power. Food builds families, fuels dreams, and connects us to one another. The evening’s three-course meal reflected that.
Appetizers included samosas and curated drinks. The main course featured chapati, golden rice, kakuchoma, creamed spinach, cabbage, kombuchari, and chicken — plate after plate of food that left very few dishes going back anything but empty. Dessert was mendazi — traditional Kenyan donuts — served alongside chai, which is a staple in Kenya but something most people in the room had never tried (the reactions were immediate and audible).
Between courses, Michelle’s daughters shared their own experiences traveling to Kenya: seeing giraffes, playing with chickens, meeting their cousins, experiencing the weather. Michelle showed video footage from her Kenyan wedding and a documentary of her time in the country. Guests came dressed in traditional African-inspired attire, the venue was decorated in Kenyan colors and themes, and music played throughout the evening. The whole experience was immersive from the moment you walked in.
From Meal Prep to a Community Kitchen
Hosting From Kenya With Love in her own space is a reflection of how far Michelle has taken Stunna’s. She started the business as Stunna’s Meal Prep — a former college basketball player turned wellness advocate who saw, after becoming a mom, how hard it is for busy families to eat well. She built a meal prep service around high-quality, flavorful food that made healthy eating simple and affordable.
The business has since grown into something much bigger. Michelle now caters events, teaches hands-on cooking classes, and through Stunna’s Kitchen Coalition, offers affordable kitchen rentals for emerging chefs, bakers, and food entrepreneurs — giving people a space to cook, create, and build their own businesses. She also helped start a neighborhood garden that gives away fresh vegetables to local residents and is leading the transformation of her church’s kitchen into a hot meal site for people in need.
From Kenya With Love is one expression of that same philosophy. When Michelle invites Columbus to her table, she’s doing what she does in every part of her work: using food to bring people together, to teach, and to open doors. Each installment of the series is slightly different — different dishes, different mood, different decorations — but the heart of it stays the same: an authentic evening of Kenyan culture, shared with care and generosity.
Experiencing a Culture Firsthand
The fact that this event sells out every year says something about the appetite Columbus has for these kinds of experiences. People want to connect across cultures. They want to learn. And when someone like Michelle — someone who has built her entire life around the idea that food connects us — opens the door to her family’s heritage, people show up.
Thank you to Michelle Mulimba for three years of From Kenya With Love, for opening Stunna’s to this celebration, and for sharing your family’s culture with our community.
About Black History Month Columbus: Black History Month Columbus is about celebrating Black culture, telling the true stories of Black history, and honoring the legacy and accomplishments of the Black community. Join us as we are creating a momentum for community healing through inspiring and educational experiences, and we warmly invite our neighbors from all walks of life to participate ♥
