Villa Alfira Abidjan: Modern Ivorian Fine Dining
Chef Charlie Koffi's farm-to-table restaurant in Deux-Plateaux: signature dishes, prices in FCFA, hours, and why it is no place for a burger.
Photo: Hussein Abdallah, CC BY 2.0
La Villa Alfira is an Afro-fusion fine-dining restaurant in Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, Abidjan. Ivorian chef Charlie Koffi, who trained in France, founded it and still runs it. He cooks Ivorian classics with fine-dining technique, and much of the produce comes from the restaurant’s own fish ponds, farm and vegetable garden. Directory listings put the budget at 12,000 to 45,000 FCFA per person (about €18 to €69) as of October 2026. Don’t come for a burger: no source I found shows 1 on the menu.
Villa Alfira at a glance: chef and founder Charlie Koffi, modern Ivorian Afro-fusion cuisine, Deux-Plateaux (Cocody), opened 2017 per AFP or 2018 per Forbes Afrique, 3,000 m² site with fish ponds, farm and vegetable garden, 40 staff including 12 cooks (2023), budget 12,000–45,000 FCFA (Sika Places, Oct 2026). (Table: Burger Breton (original work, CC BY 4.0); sources: AFP (Jan 2024), Forbes Afrique (Oct 2023), Sika Places (checked 22 Oct 2026))
I have not eaten at La Villa Alfira yet, so this is a sourced profile, not a review. It draws on an AFP feature on Ivorian chefs (January 2024), a Forbes Afrique profile (October 2023), the Sika Places directory listing and a diner’s video review from 2023. Every price and opening hour comes with its source and date, and I say so when a fact rests on a single source.
Who is the chef at La Villa Alfira in Abidjan?
Charlie Koffi opened La Villa Alfira and still runs its kitchen. AFP and Forbes Afrique both call him its founder. I found no public record showing that he is the sole owner, so here he is the chef and founder.
From genetics student in Bordeaux to Afro-fusion chef
According to Forbes Afrique, Koffi was born in Côte d’Ivoire, moved to France at 5 and studied genetics at the University of Bordeaux before switching to cooking. The same profile says he cooked at Versailles and at Bordeaux châteaux including Lafite Rothschild, Cheval Blanc and Château de la Ligne, then taught cooking on Réunion and Mayotte. Only Forbes Afrique reports this career, so read it as their account.
He sums up his food for Forbes Afrique as a fusion cuisine born of “a furious desire to showcase our African spices and produce”. So a cook trained in French kitchens came home to Ivorian flavours. That is what makes the place worth knowing about.
What does La Villa Alfira serve? Modern Ivorian fusion cuisine
La Villa Alfira serves modern Ivorian cuisine: familiar local dishes reworked with fine-dining technique and African spices. In 2023, Forbes Afrique listed a fonio salad, forest chicken with grains of paradise and plantain tagliatelle. The dish to order is the gouagouassou, which the chef calls his own.
The signature dish: a reinvented sauce gouagouassou
Koffi’s signature is a reinvented sauce gouagouassou. According to AFP, it is rabbit stewed with African eggplants, red spicy oil, powdered akpi seeds and fèfè pepper. “It is one of the dishes I really loved as a child,” he told AFP. “As a chef, it was almost an obligation to come back to it.”
A traditional Ivorian sauce gouagouassou served in a restaurant in Korhogo, northern Côte d’Ivoire. This is the classic dish chef Charlie Koffi reinvents with rabbit at Villa Alfira (illustrative photo, not taken at Villa Alfira). Photo: KONE IF, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauce\_Gouagouassou\_01.jpg (Photo: KONE IF, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauce\_Gouagouassou\_01.jpg)
Glossary of the Ivorian ingredients on the menu
The table lists the ingredients of Koffi’s dishes as AFP and Forbes Afrique describe them, and nothing more.
| Ingredient or dish | What it is at Villa Alfira | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sauce gouagouassou | Rabbit stewed with African eggplants, red spicy oil, akpi and fèfè pepper; the chef’s signature | AFP, Jan 2024 |
| Akpi | Seeds used in powder form to season the gouagouassou | AFP, Jan 2024 |
| Fèfè pepper | The pepper that brings heat to the gouagouassou | AFP, Jan 2024 |
| African eggplants | The vegetable base of the gouagouassou stew | AFP, Jan 2024 |
| Fonio | A grain served as a salad | Forbes Afrique, Oct 2023 |
| Grains of paradise | The spice paired with forest chicken | Forbes Afrique, Oct 2023 |
| Plantain | Cut into tagliatelle | Forbes Afrique, Oct 2023 |
Raw ingredients for a sauce gouagouassou in a pot: African eggplants, tomatoes, okra, red onions and hot peppers, the vegetable base of the Ivorian stew (illustrative photo, not taken at Villa Alfira). Photo: Kod B, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ingredients\_of\_Gouagouassou\_sauce\_02.jpg (Photo: Kod B, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ingredients\_of\_Gouagouassou\_sauce\_02.jpg)
Farm to table on a 3,000 m² site
La Villa Alfira grows much of what it cooks. Forbes Afrique describes a 3,000 m² site with fish farming, a farm and a vegetable garden that often supply the whole daily menu. AFP adds a detail I like: the bright main dining room overlooks a pond, and the fish on the menu come from it. In 2023 the restaurant had 40 staff, 12 of them cooks, according to Forbes Afrique.
When did La Villa Alfira open?
La Villa Alfira opened in 2017 according to AFP and in 2018 according to Forbes Afrique. I found no primary source that settles it, so I give both dates until the restaurant confirms one.
Restaurant, lounge and art venue: what else is on site
The dining room is only part of the site. Sika Places also lists a private lounge, an event space, a lounge bar, a hotel residence, catering and an art gallery, and Forbes Afrique describes the place as a meeting of cooking and art. The restaurant’s own channels do not confirm the hotel or the gallery. Check its Instagram before you plan a stay or a visit around them.
Villa Alfira prices in FCFA
A meal at Villa Alfira costs about 18,000 FCFA per person on average (roughly €27), according to the Sika Places listing as of October 2026. The same listing gives a range of 12,000 to 45,000 FCFA (€18 to €69). The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at 655.957 FCFA to €1, so the euro figures are stable.
| Item | Price (FCFA) | About (EUR) | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget per person | 12,000–45,000 | €18–€69 | Sika Places, listed Oct 2026 |
| Average per person | 18,000 | €27 | Sika Places, listed Oct 2026 |
| Mains | 10,000–30,000 | €15–€46 | Diner’s TikTok review, 2023 |
| Desserts | 5,000–10,000 | €8–€15 | Diner’s TikTok review, 2023 |
| Cocktails | 4,000–10,000 | €6–€15 | Diner’s TikTok review, 2023 |
| Meals from | 8,000 | €12 | Forbes Afrique, Oct 2023 |
Villa Alfira prices in FCFA (horizontal range bars): budget per person 12,000–45,000 (about €18–€69, Sika Places, Oct 2026), mains 10,000–30,000, desserts 5,000–10,000, cocktails 4,000–10,000 (1 diner’s TikTok review, 2023), with the 2023 Forbes Afrique starting price of 8,000 FCFA and the 18,000 FCFA average as marker lines. Fixed rate: 655.957 FCFA = €1. (Chart: Burger Breton (original work, CC BY 4.0); data: Sika Places (checked 22 Oct 2026), TikTok @_myamm_ (2023), Forbes Afrique (Oct 2023))
In 2023, Forbes Afrique gave a starting price of 8,000 FCFA. The 2026 directory range starts at 12,000. They are different sources measuring different things, so this does not prove prices have gone up, but plan for the higher figure. The 2023 video also mentions a complimentary amuse-bouche. The TikTok prices are 1 diner’s snapshot from 3 years ago, not the menu.
Address, hours and booking: practical guide
La Villa Alfira is in Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, near the Tribunal de commerce and next to the ITA school. The 2023 video review also places it near the Église Saint-Jacques. The details below come from a single directory, Sika Places, as of October 2026, so call before you go.
Rue des Jardins in Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, Abidjan, in 2012: the leafy residential district around Villa Alfira (neighbourhood photo, not of the restaurant). Photo: abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012\_Rue\_des\_Jardins,\_Deux-Plateaux\_Abidjan\_8677407570.jpg (Photo: abdallahh (Hussein Abdallah), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012\_Rue\_des\_Jardins,\_Deux-Plateaux\_Abidjan\_8677407570.jpg)
- Address: near the Tribunal de commerce, next to the ITA school, Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, Abidjan
- Phone: +225 07 78 68 50 50
- Instagram: @villa_alfira (I found no official website)
- Monday: 10:00–23:00
- Tuesday to Thursday: 09:00–23:00
- Friday to Sunday: 09:00–midnight
- Services: brunch, lunch and dinner
- Google rating: 4.2/5 from 560 reviews, as shown on Sika Places in October 2026
Villa Alfira opening hours as listed in October 2026: Monday 10:00–23:00, Tuesday to Thursday 9:00–23:00, Friday to Sunday 9:00–midnight; brunch, lunch and dinner. Phone +225 07 78 68 50 50, Instagram @villa_alfira. Single directory source: call ahead. (Table: Burger Breton (original work, CC BY 4.0); data: Sika Places, checked 22 Oct 2026)
Map of Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, Abidjan: Villa Alfira is listed near the Tribunal de commerce, next to the ITA school and near the Église Saint-Jacques. The exact pin is not confirmed, so give the driver these landmarks. (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)
The latest dated press coverage I found is from January 2024. No primary source confirms that the restaurant is still open in October 2026. Call or send an Instagram message first.
Is La Villa Alfira one of the best restaurants in Abidjan?
On paper, yes for modern Ivorian food, and that is my view. When AFP wanted to show how Abidjan’s chefs are reinventing Ivorian cooking, Villa Alfira was one of the restaurants it picked. The farm and the fish pond put it in a different league from places that only plate local dishes nicely. Directory copy also calls it the best African gastronomic restaurant in Côte d’Ivoire for 2024, but it names no awarding body, so I don’t count that as an award. I won’t give it a rating until I have eaten there.
Where else to eat modern Ivorian food in Abidjan
AFP names several other Abidjan chefs who are reworking Ivorian food. At La Maison Palmier, Hermence Kadio cooks alongside executive chef Matthieu Gasnier. N’Cho Yapi founded the chefs’ association “Chefs: Creators of Emotions”. Valérie Rollainth trained at the Institut Paul Bocuse.
Kiran Jethwa built his restaurants in Nairobi around the same idea of local produce. I covered them in my profile of Kiran Jethwa’s restaurants in Nairobi.
Does Villa Alfira serve burgers? Where to find 1 in Abidjan
No. No source I found shows a burger on La Villa Alfira’s menu, signature or otherwise. If you want a burger in Abidjan, start with our guide to the best burgers in Abidjan. For fast food you can count on, our Burger King Abidjan guide gives the locations, the Whopper price in FCFA and the opening hours.
More cities and guides are on the Burger Breton restaurants hub.
Villa Alfira Abidjan FAQ
Who is the chef at La Villa Alfira?
Charlie Koffi, an Ivorian chef who trained in France. He opened La Villa Alfira and runs its kitchen, and AFP and Forbes Afrique both name him as its founder.
Where is La Villa Alfira?
In Deux-Plateaux, Cocody, Abidjan, near the Tribunal de commerce and next to the ITA school. A 2023 video review also places it near the Église Saint-Jacques.
How much does a meal at Villa Alfira cost?
Sika Places lists 12,000 to 45,000 FCFA per person, with an average of 18,000 FCFA (about €27), as of October 2026.
What are Villa Alfira’s opening hours, and does it serve brunch?
It is listed as open Monday 10:00–23:00, Tuesday to Thursday 09:00–23:00 and Friday to Sunday 09:00–midnight, and it serves brunch, lunch and dinner. The hours come from 1 directory, so confirm them by phone.
What is sauce gouagouassou?
In Charlie Koffi’s version, it is rabbit stewed with African eggplants, red spicy oil, powdered akpi seeds and fèfè pepper. He loved the dish as a child, and it is his signature at La Villa Alfira.
Is Villa Alfira good for events or a private dinner?
It is listed with a private lounge, an event space, a lounge bar and catering. Ask the restaurant directly about capacity and private bookings.
Do I need to book a table at Villa Alfira?
I found no published booking policy. Call +225 07 78 68 50 50 or message @villa_alfira on Instagram before you go. That also confirms the current hours.
Does Villa Alfira serve burgers?
No source shows a burger on its menu. For burgers, see our Abidjan burger guide.
Sources
- AFP, “Ivory Coast chefs cook up new twist on African food”, 3 January 2024, via Tribune PH and Mail & Guardian, 5 January 2024; French version via Le360 Afrique
- Michée Dare, “Villa Alfira : l’union réussie entre cuisine et art”, Forbes Afrique, 19 October 2023
- Sika Places listing: address, phone, hours, budget and Google rating, checked 22 October 2026
- Diner’s video review on TikTok, 2023: price ranges and location
- Tripadvisor listing, “Restaurant La Villa Alfira”
