Nosiphiwo Dyantyi, fondly known as Phiwo is a 34-year old restaurateur from East London, Eastern Cape. Phiwo grew up in a small village called Zanyokwe in Keiskammahoek. She’s a wife and mother of two boys, and has had the pleasure of raising three girls.

She  grew up as a normal child with her mother working as a cleaner in a hospital while her father was unemployed.  She recalls always being a  happy child until she got to university and realised that she was poor, something she wasn’t entirely exposed to because her mother provided for them and they never felt like they lacked anything. “She taught us to be content, grateful and independent, I’ll forever be grateful for my humble beginnings”.

Phiwe graduated with a degree in Marketing Management and later did Project management. With a knack for traveling, meeting new people and cooking, it is no surprise that she would open her own Italian restaurant La Grato in the heart of East London. 

An unapologetically fearless go-getter, determined to be successful, very energetic and able to deal with difficult situations, these are the makings of a brave and successful businesswoman. 

She opened La Grato in Beacon Bay on the 13^th of January 2023 and currently has 39 employees.

I met Phiwo for the first time when a friend of time suggested we have lunch at La Grato. A beautiful, young, curvaceous woman with a beautiful smile walked in, clad in  black bodycon dress, high heels and an expensive weave. Warm and kind, one would say that’s all restaurant owners, she was attentive and equally reserved. We spoke at length about her career and its challenges. Some of the biggest challenges include people overlooking her based on the fact that she is a young female. 

“The honest truth is that when you are in this position, fighting for your spot becomes an everyday struggle, with your clients, your service providers, even with your employees. In some situations you’d find that your call is being ignored until your husband is the one making it, that is just how the society we live in is wired.”

“Females are just not taken seriously and if you’re married you get to live under your husband’s shadow as if you are not capable of doing anything on your own.  

Then you find customers who question and challenge everything about your restaurant, comparing you with other restaurants that are not even on your level, and surprisingly  I got that mostly from older females. “

Nonetheless, Phiwo is still learning and finding better ways to tackle issues head on. She is a firm believer in resilience being developed through experience.

Some of her highlights include making peoples’ dreams come true and bringing different, diverse groups together in one place, not to mention the fact that she has given East London something to be excited about.

She is not new to the hospitality industry, back in her university days, she got an opportunity to work part-time as a waitress in one of East London’s upmarket restaurants at the time. She describes her start as bigger than just being a waitress, that’s where the dream was birthed, she saw herself owning a five-star hotel with an upmarket restaurant one day. The dream was further solidified by her travels that inspired her to finally dive and make her dream a reality.

La Grato hosts live bands every now and then to entertain their customers. They also have a cigar lounge that has its own bar, its own staff, different music genres (jazz or deep house), and most of all a private space to host meetings, and other private gatherings and a treat for sports fanatics, they broadcast live sporting games like F1, boxing and soccer matches.

The secret to her success is consistency. “Maintaining the standard for fine dining is not easy hence you will find me coming in almost every day, checking if my clients are happy, in instances where there is a problem, I make sure it is solved amicably. I also have other things lined up that I’m bringing which I can’t mention yet just to keep our clients excited because in a small town people are easily bored so you always have to be on your toes.” 

Phiwo has ambitions of growing her business into a franchise on the Garden Route towns in about five years from now. She also still wants to open her own hotel. 

Some of her best qualities that she deems blessings and help her in becoming an even better leader and entrepreneur other than her love for people is her patience. “I am a very patient person, I give myself time to think before making any drastic decision. I believe in fairness and giving people chances to prove themselves and I have a sense of humor however when it’s time to work I don’t joke. I once told my manager that I don’t idolize anyone so I will not be that typical boss that everyone is scared of. We will laugh with everyone when we have to but as long as they know their boundaries and do their job.”

She mentions a number of challenges she has faced as a black businesswoman, and the fact that some of her clients have higher expectations of her and leave her with no room to make mistakes unlike other businesses, puts her under immense pressure. 

One of the important lessons she had to learn through running her own business is not being dependent on anyone to get things done. She works hard, ensuring she has every facet of her business covered.