CHEF MONA

Monalisa, aka Chef Mona. Zimbabwe-born.
A passionate chef, nutritionist, and devoted foodie on a mission to redefine what it means to belong to the diaspora through cultural dishes and wellness.

For as long as she can remember, Mona has been drawn to food, fitness, and the deeper question of what it truly means to live well. Through her culinary and fitness journey, she has discovered ways to inspire, nourish, and serve.

Mona's culinary journey began with Wings on Wednesday — a creative space to experiment with bold, street-food-inspired flavours. What started as flavour exploration became something more. It became a way to stay grounded in her fitness journey.

She realised that the "healthy meals" often promoted for staying in shape felt restrictive and unsustainable. While discipline is essential, she found that rigid dieting often compounds inconsistency. Instead, she discovered that street food, cultural food, recipe development, and meals that genuinely felt good allowed her to sustain both health and joy.

Over time, Mona expanded into meal prepping and catering as her passion grew. Her fitness journey flourished when she embraced the foods she loved — the ones rooted in memory and culture — and allowed them to support, rather than fight against, her goals.

After eight years of refining her craft across culinary arts and nutrition, Mona finds herself continually drawn back to identity — who she is, where she is from, and why that matters.