Cooking and serving French Toast at the Bliss Manor was not a success financially for the owner, Bobby, I think she actually lost money because she fed Diana and I (I cooked) but I did learn a lot! I tried to pay her for our orders of French Toast but she would not accept. First of all, Bliss Manor does not serve an American breakfast. They serve a limited dinner menu all day, from 8am to 8ish, rice with your choice of fish or chicken. Bliss Manor is the only restaurant in Kitase that is close enough for me to walk to. There are many chop chop's (places where you can buy Ghanaian food on the street) and bars to buy a drink but no formal restaurants except for Bliss Manor. She has a lovely patio that faces the road, can sit about 36 people and she has a huge inside. She and her family live behind the restaurant. Bobby was born in Accra, had all her children in London, and now resides in Kitase. All her children still live in London. So I am waiting patiently for my first customer and by 8:30 no one has come in so I decide to pick up the board that my sign is posted on and head closer to the road. This is a very busy road used daily by people coming from Accra and traveling north to Korforidia so I thought even if French Toast was not a hit with the locals in Kitase surely I would draw in some hungry travelers... I am waving, smiling, and pointing at the sign for every car that drove by...got many beeps and waves but no cars pulling over. Around 9:30 am a guy in a taxi stopped, I was excited for this and quickly asked if he was stopping for the French Toast, he kindly said no and walked past me, ordered a beer, sat down and drank it while his customer was waiting in the backseat! Please do not take this to mean that every Ghanaian drinks beer in the AM, I think he might be the only one! At 10 am an SUV pulls up and out comes 2 parents with their 4 children, yes, this is going to be great!! By this point one customer is all I am hoping for. The family sits down and orders fish with rice and chicken with rice at 10 AM in the morning! Bobby says this is typical for Ghanaian people. They want to eat something with protein and substance to last them throughout the morning and afternoon...this makes sense to me now and maybe I will begin eating fish in the AM too but I do love my American Breakfast! My dad makes the best hashbrown cakes (he shreads actual potatoes), complete with omlettes and cheddar cheese toast. So no customers yet and Diana and I are getting hungry so we go to the kitchen. It was so nice to be in a kitchen! We watched as the 2 girls that cook for Bobby prepared the rice and fish. I am now interested in purchasing a muddle and large wooden bowl to mash red peppers and tomatoes to make sauce, the girls did this and it does not seem difficult. I made french toast for Bobby, Diana, the cooks, and myself. Bobby really liked it and said that I can come back anytime. We sat in kitchen and talked about her life for a long time, very interesting lady. By noon, we cleaned up and left. No paying customers but a great experience. I am going to go back soon and watch the girls prepare some more traditional Ghanaian dishes. Bobby wants to send one of the girls who happens to be her niece to culinary school, she is 17 so she can take over the restaurant someday.
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