A year later than planned, Akoko has finally opened in London’s Fitzrovia on a mission to shake up the capital’s West African dining scene with its ‘progressive and elevated’ approach.
“You know, it’s a funny story,” says Aji Akokomi with a chuckle. The first-time restauranteur is sat at the window table by the entrance of Akoko, his newly-opened, West African fine dining restaurant, located in the centre of Berners street in the heart of London’s Fitzrovia.
The story Akokomi is referring to dates back more than three years. It’s about 14 months since the British-Nigerian first announced plans to open a West African restaurant in the capital, but the project itself has been percolating in his mind for much longer than that.
Back when he was first thinking of the idea for Akoko, which translates to ‘time’ and also ‘the first’ in Yoruba, Akokomi already had a specific idea of the sort of West African art he wanted to populate his restaurant with. With that in mind, he headed to Sotheby’s on New Bond Street in Mayfair, to discuss his perspective design plans with an art dealer.
“I had ideas about having these beautiful, contemporary-style African art pieces adorn the walls of my restaurant… And it was as I was explaining this that one of the dealers turned to me and asked if I was from Ikoyi.”
Until that moment, Akokomi was unaware of Ire Hassan-Odukale and Jeremy Chan’s plans to turn their own West African concept – originally established as a pop-up – into a permanent venture. Akokomi visited Ikoyi not long after it launched in 2017 and was blown away by his experience. “It was such a beautiful place,” he recalls enthusiastically. “I remember thinking to myself ‘oh my God, this is exactly how I would want my restaurant to be.’ Artistically, it had its own very unique West African accent. Immediately, I went back to the drawing board and begun to think about how I could make sure Akoko was different. And I hope we’ve done that.”
In terms of visual design, Akoko is strikingly singular. While Ikoyi adopts a chic, polished look, Akoko opts for something more minimalist. Conceived by René Dekker Design, the space is inspired by the ‘natural beauty, simplicity and earthiness’ of rural West Africa. The walls are covered in soothing terracotta clay, while contemporary African art by Niyi Olgunju adorns the space, alongside ceramics inspired by the legendary West African 1960s ‘Queen of Pottery’, Ladi Kwali, and mid-century modern Nupe pottery. Together with the furnishings, they offer the room various intriguing textures and shades of brown.
“I was trying to think of what people will expect, and I wanted to subvert that,” says Akokomi of the design. “The choosing of the art was important. We want people to immerse themselves in the stories behind the different pieces we have on display. The idea is to make our visitors feel they’ve travelled to another part of the world when they come here.”
Akokomi has long aspired to have his own restaurant. Initially, he considered opening a place over in Nigeria where his mum owns a bakery, but, having spent a long time studying in London, he soon set his heart on launching a place in the capital. From the beginning, he knew he wanted it to be a West-African focused restaurant.
There have certainly been challenges along the way, not least when it came to looking for a spot to open Akoko. As well as Fitzrovia, Akokomi considered sites in St. James’, Mayfair and Victoria. However, securing a location was a real struggle, with many landlords and agents deeming a top-end West African as a risky venture.
Thankfully, finding a chef to work with proved to be more straightforward. Having seen Chilila on MasterChef, Akokomi approached him, initially over Instagram, to discuss the venture.
“We really hit it off,” says Chilila. “[Akokomi] showed me what he wanted to serve and asked me how I would refine the flavours. This is the food that I grew up eating, but it’s not something I’ve really been able to use in cooking professionally before. Me and Aji spent months and months developing the menu, and have built up a really comprehensive book of recipes that we can always refer back to. It was a long process, but a really rewarding one.”
Telling a story
Positioning itself as a restaurant that offers a ‘progressive and elevated’ take on West African cuisine, comparisons between the food at Akoko and that at Ikoyi are perhaps inevitable, but unhelpful. While Ikoyi does reference some well-known staples of West African cuisine on its menu and uses plenty of spices sourced in the Sub-Saharan region in its cooking, none of its dishes are direct re-imaginings of those found in West Africa; something that was a direct focus for Akokomi and Chilila.
“We want Akoko to be a stepping stone for people who maybe aren’t so familiar with West African food,” explains Akokomi. “We chose to primarily draw our inspiration from Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal: the key was to look at these different cuisines and study the similarities. Take the jollof rice for example. It is something that is recognisable across all three countries, so our aim was to bring them together in one dish.”
The jollof rice is undoubtedly the centrepiece of Akoko’s launch menu. Topped with a hunk of braised then seared goat, then served amid a billowing cloud of smoke, it’s a theatrical showstopper that effortlessly manages to combine authenticity with originality.
Akoko offers diners the choice between a meaty or vegan tasting menu, both priced at ₤59. Alongside the Jollof, other dishes include Nigerian pumpkin soup with calabash nutmeg, grilled lobster, popped wild rice and moringa oil served with Guinness bread; and barbecued quail served with onions, lemon, mustard seeds and Kani sauce. There’s also a picturesque dessert of uda-infused cream, Ghanaian cocoa butter, goat milk cream, ehuru and uziza oil.
The choice to not serve à la carte alongside, at least for the time being, is something Akokomi and Chilila agreed on early in the menu development. “Offering a tasting menu allows us to tell the story of West Africa a bit better, and takes diners on a journey,” says the chef.
Sourcing as close to home as possible was also of significant importance to the pair, with around 90% of the ingredients coming from the UK. “Akoko is a West African restaurant in London, and it’s very much part of the culture I grew up with to use what’s available to you close by,” says Akokomi. “In Nigeria, we would go to local farmers for our meat and vegetables, and that’s exactly what we’ve done here. And for any spices, seeds or grains we can’t get hold of, we’ve gone to farmers we know in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, and set up supply chains with them.”
Read the full story on Big Hospitality