Mercy came to Cape Town after completing high school and college in Nairobi, Kenya to study food and beverage at the International Hotel School.
“Back home people don't drink wine, but rather beer, cider and spirits. I found out more about wine in this country."
In 2009 when The One And Only opened in the V&A Waterfront, Mercy joined the Nobu restaurant as a waitress, and worked her way up to eventually become the restaurant manager. Early on, she entered the Inter Hotel Challenge and won the award for most upcoming wine steward in South Africa, and came fourth and third in two consecutive years. She then emersed herself in wine studies to complete WSET level 2 and SASA's sommelier course. She is currently enrolled for a diploma with the Cape Wine Academy and WSET level 3.
"Before you know anything about wine, you only know white and red, but when I came here I saw all these different red wines... We had this amazing food and beverage director who was training us and empowering us with wine knowledge, and I became more interested to learn more. That is when I realised it was something I really wanted to do.”
Mercy is also a board member of BLACC, the Black Cellar Club, an association run by a group of prominent South African based sommeliers.
“BLACC is the new initiative powered by Vula Africa to empower the young generation, especially the black people, to know more about wine ... you see out there in the locations they don't know anything about wine. We want to introduce them to wine, not just any wine but proper wine, just to educate them.”
Mercy is in fact presently on maternity leave, having given birth to twins just weeks before our interview. She also has a four-year-old daughter. I asked her how she manages a career in hospitality whilst being a wife and mother.
“I am lucky, because my mom came down from Kenya to help me (with the twins). My mom being the pillar of my strength, she is always there to help me out."
Mercy Mwai is living proof that one can manage anything in life if you have the right mindset and solid family support. She says that women should not think that only men can have a successful career in wine. Of course not!
I asked Mercy how she deals with customers who order wine that does not pair well with their meal. She replies by saying that even when she has a customer who wants to impress his guests with nonexistent wine knowledge, the objective is never to prove him wrong, but to try and gently coax him in a different direction. If he insists to stick with his order then the task of the sommelier is to make him feel good about his choice regardless and not to try and show off superior knowledge.
Mercy came from no knowledge about wine and through dedicated study and sheer determination became a successful sommelier. I asked her if it was difficult to develop a palate for wine tasting and she replied that practise was key and that everyone who applies themself can develop that.
“Now I can differentiate one grape from another, but a few years ago I couldn't do that. So it is something you can develop (over time).”
Mercy has told me before that she loves to cook. So I asked her if she still prepares traditional food from Kenya, and how she pairs wine with it.
“I am a wife, so I cook for my family as well. I do sometimes try to cook some of our traditional food from back home... We are Kenyans, so my family loves beef! I make them beef curry or beef stew with maybe some pap. All black people love pap, it is our staple food.“ (Pap refers to a traditional African cornmeal dish)
Her husband loves full-bodied South African red wines, which pairs well with traditional Kenian fare of beef, pap and salad.
But apart from food and wine, Mercy lives a healthy lifestyle and has started a running club for all the staff at the hotel. More than that, she has a huge passion for running.
“I think it is in my genes being a Kenyan, it is what we do, we run!"
Thanks to Mercy's inspiration, the One And Only staff run daily and go on hikes up Table Mountain on weekends, as a team.
When asked what it was like to grow up in Nairobi, Mercy is quick to point out that Nairobi is a big, fast-paced city, quite unlike Cape Town where people generally have a much more laid back attitude.
“Nairobi is more like Jo'burg, always busy... Seriously speaking, here people are always at a slow pace. I always tell them 'as much as I can survive in your country, you would not survive in my city!' People are comfortable you know. That's the thing, you don't have the opportunity to be comfortable back home. You just want to keep moving, because once you get comfortable, everybody will just leave you behind.”
She says that she feels more at home in Johannesburg than Cape Town, because of the pace in the big city. Her eyes light up at the thought of returning to Nairobi one day to educate Kenyans about wine.
“I would like to go back to Nairobi one day and open a wine bar there, it is my dream.”
Mercy Mwai is a wife, mother, athlete and sommelier. More than that, she is very good at everything she does. She manages that by remembering her roots and pouring those values into her life, wherever she finds herself.
Click here to watch the interview.