High expectations: Akwasi Brenya-Mensa
(Picture: Photography: Natasha Pszenicki; Assistant: Monty Vann)In the field of London’s modern, West African-influenced restaurant menus, jollof rice is still basically a non-negotiable ubiquity. It remains the centrepiece of the multi-course offering at two Michelin-starred Ikoyi; it emerges from a smoke-filled cloche during every meal at Akoko; at Chuku’s, in Tottenham, they are still selling their reimagined quinoa version by the truckload. But you will not find it on the launch menu at Tatale — the landmark new pan-African restaurant from Ghanaian-British chef Akwasi Brenya-Mensa. And its omission, it turns out, is very much a considered choice rather than any sort of inadvertent oversight.
“I am not entering jollofgate,” he says, with a laugh, trademark beanie hat pulled low over his hair. “I am just not entering it. I can’t make heritage jollof; I’m not an aunty who has made it on her stove for 20 years. I can’t compete with any of that so I’m not going totry.” A thought strikes him. “In fact, I would be happy for people to bring a bowl of their aunt’s own jollof here so they can have it.”
