The celebrated West African restaurant Chishuru, closed since October last year, will reopen next month in a new central London location.
Head chef Adejoke Bakare announced a second iteration before shutting her original site in Brixton, and has since revealed her much-loved cassava fritters and beef shin broth will be back on September 18.
Nigerian-born Bakare said the new premises, in Fitzrovia, will seat 54 diners, and will again offer set menus for lunch (£35) and dinner (£65).
“We’re thrilled to announce that we finally have an opening date for our restaurant in Fitzrovia,” said Bakare and business partner Matt Paice. “We’ll be trading for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday.”
Bakare added: “It’s been a long time coming, but opening this restaurant has been a life-long dream of mine. This new kitchen will allow me to explore even further the different cuisines of my heritage – Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. My food isn’t tied to tradition, but is instead inspired by the dishes of my childhood that have then been given a London sensibility.”
Chishuru launched in Brixton in 2020, earning rave reviews. Only two months ago, the Standard’s own Jimi Famurewa listed the restaurant as one of his top 10 in London, writing of Bakare’s “mystical way with barrelling spice and unforgettable, multilayered flavour.”
The restaurant has also been crucial in promoting West African food in London, allowing for a better understanding of a cuisine that has been in the capital for generations, but has enjoyed too little of the limelight.
On the menu in Fitzrovia are dishes such as moi moi, a bean cake with trout roe and a duck egg sauce; mbongo tchobi, a cod fillet with spiced black sauce and wilted greens; and egusi, which is grilled cabbage stuffed with caramelised shallots, utazi leaf, and a wild watermelon seed sauce.
The wine list will be sourced from independent producers throughout France, from Beaujolais to the Jura to Roussillon. Cocktails will feature West African herbs and spices, including a house-pickled okra martini as an aperitif, and an Eau de Vie shot with alligator pepper as a digestif.
