Boutique Hotel Matlai's kitchen runs on a daily-changing three-course menu alongside curated specialities and a wider à la carte selection for lunch and dinner, plus a dedicated vegetarian menu. Behind it are two teams — the Zatiny kitchen and, next door, the Duyên kitchen — blending Zanzibari tradition with wider culinary influences.
Head Chef Saleh
Chef Saleh joined Matlai in late 2011, ahead of the hotel's opening, and has led the kitchen ever since. He is from Pemba Island. Before joining Matlai, he worked at one of Stone Town's best-known hotels at the time.
Chef Ibrahim
Chef Ibrahim joined around 2014. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he worked at an Italian hotel before coming to Matlai, and brings that experience to the kitchen's Italian dishes.
Chef Herson
Chef Herson joined a few years after Ibrahim, from mainland Tanzania. He is especially known for his beef dishes, while the rest of the kitchen specialises in fish and seafood.
The Younger Chef Ibrahim
The kitchen later welcomed a second Chef Ibrahim, known simply as the younger Ibrahim, from Jambiani on Zanzibar's east coast, not far from Matlai.
Eric: From Breakfast Chef to Sous Chef
Eric joined the kitchen from the mainland around two years ago. He worked his way up from Breakfast Chef to Sous Chef, and is now part of the kitchen's core leadership.
Yussuph: Breakfast Chef and Junior Sous Chef
Yussuph has trained at Matlai for about a year and a half and is now stepping into the roles of Breakfast Chef and Junior Sous Chef.
The Duyên Kitchen
Matlai's second kitchen, Duyên, has its own team. Jovita has worked alongside Kim since the restaurant's earliest days, and Bertha trained first in the Zatiny kitchen before moving across to become a dedicated Vietnamese-food chef at Duyên.
Together, this team runs two kitchens built around local ingredients and a menu that changes daily rather than a fixed rotation of set dishes — the same daily approach that shapes the tasting-menu-style dinners served each evening.