With two West African restaurants in London winning Michelin stars this month, the region's specialities are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
Adejoké Bakare, of Chishuru in London's Fitzrovia, became the first Black woman to win a Michelin star in the UK, and only the second in the world. She "first made her name with a supper club", said the London Evening Standard. Now Chishuru is among the city's "most talked-about restaurants". The other Michelin star was won by Aji Akokomi of Akoko, also in Fitzrovia, where inspectors ate "one of the most memorable meals of the year", said the newspaper.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The food typically features "smoke, heat and intensely savoury umami flavours – like the slow-cooking of onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and spices to form rich and concentrated bases for common dishes with almost infinite variations, the likes of jollof rice, egusi soup, groundnut stew, kebabs marinated in a spiced peanut sauce and fufu."
-
6 exquisite homes with vast acreageFeature Featuring an off-the-grid contemporary home in New Mexico and lakefront farmhouse in Massachusetts
-
Film reviews: ‘Wuthering Heights,’ ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,’ and ‘Sirat’Feature An inconvenient love torments a would-be couple, a gonzo time traveler seeks to save humanity from AI, and a father’s desperate search goes deeply sideways
-
Political cartoons for February 16Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include President's Day, a valentine from the Epstein files, and more
-
The biggest box office flops of the 21st centuryin depth Unnecessary remakes and turgid, expensive CGI-fests highlight this list of these most notorious box-office losers
-
Mail incoming: 9 well-made products to jazz up your letters and cardsThe Week Recommends Get the write stuff
-
The 8 best superhero movies of all timethe week recommends A genre that now dominates studio filmmaking once struggled to get anyone to take it seriously
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
February TV brings the debut of an adult animated series, the latest batch of ‘Bridgerton’ and the return of an aughts sitcomthe week recommends An animated lawyers show, a post-apocalyptic family reunion and a revival of a hospital comedy classic
-
Caribbean resorts that call for serious rest and relaxationThe Week Recommends Serenity is a flight away
-
February’s books feature new Toni Morrison, a sapphic love tale and a criticism of Mexican historyThe Week Recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Autobiography of Cotton’ by Cristina Rivera Garza, ‘Language as Liberation’ by Toni Morrison and ‘Heap Earth Upon It’ by Chloe Michelle Howarth
