Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Yaa Asantewaa, Fela Kuti , Martin Luther King, Haile Selassie and Patrice Lumumba are still with us and can be ‘tasted’ at the Pallet Kitchen bar and restaurant at Klagon Water Works Junction, near Lashibi in the Greater Accra Region.
Those influential black people have been named after cocktails at the joint created entirely out of wooden pallets by musician, Yaw Boateng, better known as Zohzoh.
“Tourism promotion can be tackled from a variety of approaches. One of my angles is to reinforce the memory of those great personalities in an innovative setting which is a demonstration of what good uses wooden pallets can be put to, ” said Zohzoh.
A pallet is the structural foundation of a load meant to be transported over a long distance.
Shipping containers and other forms of goods are often placed on pallets secured with strapping before they are shipped.
While most pallets are wooden, they can also be made of plastic, metal, paper and recycled materials.
“Here, people usually use the pallets as firewood. I have, however, seen them creatively used as park benches and other forms of furniture on my travels around rural communities in Europe and I decided to try out the idea here,” Zohzoh said.
Ghanaians eager to step out of their comfort zone as well as foreign tourists intrigued by the idea of an entire bar and restaurant created with pallets are some of the people so far spotted at the Pallet Kitchen.
According to Zohzoh, passersby fascinated by the joint also stop to enjoy a drink and ask questions.
“The reigning drink at the moment is Papa J. It is a mix of seven juices and a dash of alcohol,” Zohzoh gleefully said before jumping behind a draughts board incorporated into one of the furniture designs.
“The idea is to infuse local board games into the local pub scene. Everywhere are chess, snooker, billiards, monopoly and other non-Ghanaian stuff. We can present our own in the club setting.”
As a musician, Zohzoh lived and worked in New Zealand for 13 years. He decided to come back home late last year when he felt he had more to give to the motherland than Europe.
His wooden outdoor bar and restaurant which officially opens at 6.00pm on Sunday, May 1, is what he is upholding now to help boost tourism.
