David Muthengi, popularly known as Holy Dave, a renowned artist and cook, has opened up about what led him to start live cooking.
While speaking during an interview on a late-night show on June 20, 2025, Holy Dave stated that all was well until 2020, when COVID-19 hit. Before the pandemic, he was employed and on payroll, frequently visiting high schools to perform.
However, when lockdowns were enforced, there was little he could do. It was at that point that it dawned on him he was jobless, as his life heavily depended on performances and artistry.
“I was a jobless man; I can’t lie. You know what I mean. You know, a certain time I was working with a TV station; nilikuwa na gig pale; we used to go around tunatembea, kwa mashule, and COVID kugonga, hakuna kutembea,” Holy Dave explained.
He further explained that it was a humbling experience. Before this, he had never imagined being jobless. Besides his artistic work, he held a master’s degree and had already enrolled for a PhD. At the time of the pandemic, he was in the middle of conducting his research.
He went on to explain how difficult it was to adjust to the new reality. With the former president announcing a nationwide curfew that required everyone to be indoors by 7 PM, his active and energetic lifestyle came to a sudden halt.
He described himself as someone who thrived on excitement and movement, and being confined indoors was a tough transition.
One day, while in the house, he decided to take a liver out of the freezer and cook it, this time going live on his social media pages. To his surprise, as soon as he began, the viewer numbers started increasing rapidly, something he wasn’t used to. Encouraged by the response, he cooked chicken the next day, and once again, the reaction was positive.
This prompted him to call his mother, who is also a great cook, to share how the public was responding to his cooking. She advised him to try baking a cake, just like she used to do back in the U.S. The following Tuesday, he did exactly that, and the public response was even better.
“That day the former president announced that tukuwe kwa Nyumba by 7; it was so boring, I pulled a liver out of the freezer nikaanza kupika kimchezo, then unaona vile umezoea numbers kuenda polepole kwa stories, ile business school nilienda nikasema this is scalability,” he said.
He went on to jokingly say that he has great respect for liver because were it not for that moment, he wouldn’t be cooking the way he does today.
Background in business
Holy Dave added that his background in business school helped him monetise his cooking skills, noting that he is now fully involved in the business of food.
He also shared that it took about one and a half years for things to truly take off. However, during that time, he received endorsements from small brands and engaged in collaborations with like-minded individuals.
