Popular Durham restaurant is relocating to Brightleaf Square
A popular Durham restaurant is relocating to Brightleaf Square.
The owners behind Zweli's, a family-owned Zimbabwean restaurant, announced via social media on Sunday that it would be the last day of operation at their original location at Oakcreek Village.
Chef Zweli Williams and her husband Leonardo “Leo” Williams opened Zweli's Kitchen at 4600 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. in 2018.
"Five years later, we're still growing," the couple post on social media, "However, our growth has helped us realize that we control our future and tough predicaments call for tough decisions. But they also create new opportunities."
The couple said they would be putting "resilience on full display" over the next few months as they relocate Zweli's Kitchen to Brightleaf Square and a second restaurant, Zweli’s Ekhaya, at American Tobacco Campus. The couple also operates Zweli's Cafe at Duke University's Divinity School.
Zweli’s Ekhaya, which will be located in the old Saladelia space in the Crowe Lobby, was announced in 2021. The restaurant will have a menu of tapas that focuses on the delicacies from the Bantu indigenous ethnicities from across Africa.
How it all started
Zweli grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where she started her culinary interest by learning to prepare dishes with the variety of ingredients available. Following high school, she moved to the United States and attended school at North Carolina Central University, where she met Leo Williams. Williams was the head drum major for the NCCU marching band and later became a Durham Public Schools teacher and administrator. In his educational career, he was named "Teacher of the Year."
After not being able to find a restaurant that served dishes from Zimbabwe, Zweli was inspired to open her own restaurant. Though they were turned down for loans, the couple used Williams' retirement money and funds from Zweli's parents to open Zweli's Piri Piri Kitchen in 2018.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple worked with other local, small business owners to raise more than $3 million for a fund to help keep those businesses open.
The couple has coordinated nearly 100,000 meals pre-pandemic and post-pandemic to serve the displaced, elderly and the homeless.
“We’ve had the very fortunate opportunity to work with dozens and dozens of restaurateurs and thousands of entrepreneurs at the American Tobacco Campus and American Underground,” says Adam Klein, director, American Tobacco Campus. “Zweli and Leo represent the best of Durham. They are creative, committed, caring, and, most importantly, community-focused. We’re honored that they chose to share their journey with us and take part in ours.”
Note: The American Tobacco Campus is owned and operated by WRAL’s parent company, Capitol Broadcasting Company.
