Adejoké Bakare's Chishuru Wins First Michelin Star
Chishuru, a restaurant serving West African cuisine, relocated to London's West End less than six months ago and has already earned a Michelin star. At an event in Manchester on February 5, the Michelin Guide unveiled the prize.
After thriving as a supper club host and winning a local culinary competition in 2020, self-taught founder and Head chef Adejoké "Joké" Bakare launched Chishuru in Brixton Village. "I'm speechless," said Bakare. "Which isn't usually the case."
At the time, Bakare was on the rise, presenting a small selection of Nigerian and West African meals alongside those from her native country with the help of one other kitchen assistant.
Jollof with fried plantain and other familiar dishes were part of an early menu that offered two meals for just £18. A two-story eatery only five minutes from Oxford Circus, Chishuru is now one of the most talked-about restaurants in London, offering a tasting menu for £75.
A few examples of the foods available include the following: pepper soup made with seasonal shellfish, radish, and apple; bean cake called moi moi topped with bone marrow, red peppers, and scallop roe; and Newlyn cod served with tomatoes, Scotch bonnet chilli, and okra.
According to Jimi Famurewa, a culinary writer for the Standard, the restaurant "has the power to take your breath away" and was praised as a "whirring dynamo of Bakare's blazing, intuitive talent" in October, earning four stars out of five.
With the first star, Chishuru has gone from a north London supper club to a big restaurant, solidifying its place in the culinary mainstream and introducing new fans to West African cuisine.
Having operated a fish and chips cart in her free time while attending university in Nigeria, Bakare has previously said that her drive to work in the culinary industry stems from that period.
She began her career in property management in the UK in the '90s before launching her dinner club.
Some have drawn parallels to Shoreditch's The Clove Club, which has won two stars after beginning as a dinner club for pals Johnny Smith, Isaac McHale, and Daniel Willis.