Adejoké “Joké” Bakare has transformed a passion for West African food into one of the most celebrated culinary stories in contemporary Britain. The British Nigerian born chef and founder of Chishuru has become a defining voice in London’s West African dining scene, combining deeply rooted flavours with an inventive approach that has earned her international recognition. Largely self taught, Bakare became the first Black woman in the United Kingdom to receive a Michelin Star in 2024, a landmark achievement that placed both her name and West African cuisine firmly within the global fine dining conversation.
The story of Chishuru began far from the polished dining room it occupies today. Bakare initially developed the concept as a supper club before winning the amateur category of the Brixton Kitchen competition and opening the first Chishuru in Brixton Village in 2020. The restaurant developed a loyal following for its confident interpretation of West African cuisine, eventually outgrowing its original 32 cover space. In 2023, Chishuru moved to Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia, London, giving Bakare the platform to introduce her cooking to an even wider international audience.
What makes Bakare’s cooking distinctive is its refusal to separate authenticity from creativity. Her menus draw on the flavours, ingredients and culinary traditions of West Africa while presenting them through her own contemporary perspective. Dishes incorporating ingredients such as uda, uziza, grains of paradise, yaji, fermented rice and palm nuts demonstrate a culinary philosophy rooted in heritage but unafraid of experimentation. Michelin describes Chishuru’s food as full flavoured and expertly judged, while Bakare herself has remained committed to making the restaurant feel warm, welcoming and distinctly different from the formality traditionally associated with fine dining.
Her Michelin Star was followed by another major recognition. In June 2024, Bakare was named Chef of the Year at the National Restaurant Awards, while Chishuru entered the UK’s Top 100 Restaurants at number 31. She had also been named Woman of the Year by Code Hospitality earlier that year. The achievements marked an extraordinary acceleration for a chef whose restaurant journey had only begun a few years earlier, while Chishuru’s growing international audience demonstrated the appetite for more nuanced representations of African cuisine.
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Today, Adejoké Bakare stands at the forefront of a wider movement bringing West African food into global culinary conversations. Chishuru remains a Michelin starred destination in Fitzrovia, with Michelin continuing to recognise its distinctive combination of sophisticated cooking and neighbourhood warmth. More importantly, Bakare has demonstrated that African cuisine does not need to be altered to belong on the world’s most prestigious culinary stages. Through Chishuru, she is creating space for West African flavours, stories and traditions to be experienced on their own terms, while inspiring a new generation of African chefs to see global excellence as something they can define for themselves.
