When you enter a luxurious dining establishment, your intial focus would be the ambience before being welcomed by polite waitstaffs dressed in the restaurant’s colors.

They greet you and may assist you in finding a suitable seat before returning to take your order.

Pallet Cafe restaurant, located in Lavington, is among the most-unique hotels in the capital city, having employed People Living With Disabilities (PLWD) to work as the waitstaff.

The hotel empowers the deaf community in Kenya by offering them job opportunities that are often difficult to secure under normal circumstances, as many employers tend to underlook them.

Their business model is quite simple and straightforward, and this has wowed Kenyans who have visited the place. Additionally, they also promote training of disable persons within the food industry.

Notably, when you visit Pallet Cafe, it’s not just a dining experience; you also have the opportunity to learn some sign language, as their menus are written using it.

Pallet Cafe devised a simple menu coded to make it easier for the deaf waiters and waitresses to communicate with the clients.

The management has on previous occassion reiterated that their goal is to demonstrate that individuals living with disabilities, are in no way, different from the rest of society.

“We decided to hire people with hearing impairment just to prove to the society that these gusy don’t have disabilities. They are just like you and I,” said Pallet Cafe’s general manager.

“They have talents, they need to live a fruitful life. For them to lie a fruitful life, they need to be empowered,” he added.

Waiters and waitresses have been trained on approaching customers and communicating with them, without having to struggle.

In general, the restaurant has been receiving positive reviews from Kenyan visitors who have experienced it.

Edward Gitau, one of the waiters at Pallet Cafe, shared that he has found the working environment to be conducive and very comforting.

He added that the communication is effortless despite majority of their customers being foreigners.