Trend alert! African cuisine is on the plate.

In case you haven’t noticed, African cuisine is becoming more and more visible in our beloved City of London. Cultural diversity has had an undeniable impact on the way we consume food in the UK.

It may be the result of an ever-growing black African community settling in London, but also the result of an ever-growing demand for ethnic food, something different, something new, tasty and exciting in contrast for our dull city life.

African food is now finally getting the mainstream recognition it deserves. And that is partly due to the quality of the food (the jollof rice, fried plantain and robustly spiced stews that formed the home-cooked repertoire of any African family).

A few notable new developed African influenced concepts include:

Tatale is lighting up tastebuds at the Africa Centre in Southwark.

Chuku’s in Tottenham is offering the most mouth watering Nigerian food.

Chishuru’s by Joké Bakare encapsulates the combination of ‘contemporary West African food with age-old recipes and techniques’ that cult leaders dream of.

Ikoyi, rewarded with a second Michelin star this year, is about to move into a larger venue on The Strand.

Isibani in Knightbridge, is becoming a regular haunt for the Nigerian community.

Brothers Cafe and Restaurant in Tottenham offers accessible plates of Somali food.

And this is to say nothing of the quieter success stories — the forthcoming expansion of Whitechapel Somali institution Al Kahf, say, or the fact that Nigerian chain Enish has opened both a West End outpost and a 24-hour Camberwell branch — that barely flicker on the food world radar but signify booming fortunes nonetheless.

We finally see the emergence of African born chefs into our little screen (or not so little anymore).

Victor Okunowo and William JM Chilila were semi finalist in Master Chef.

Raphael Duntoye is the talent behind the international chain La Petite Maison.

Andi Oliver is the face of the succesfull show The Great British Menu.

James Cochran established himself as one of the most talented chef, where his joint Vincentian and Scottish heritage really comes into play.

And so many more are learning from the best chefs in the country and will offer their inspiration of their own heritage and modern techniques and gastronomy learned during their coming to age.

November 2022

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