In November, the Nigerian culinary landscape will welcome a special visitor, who is coming to spice the country’s hospitality industry with her creative gastronomic ingenuity.
Of course, the visit is a highly anticipated one across the industry because of the calibre of the visitor and her team.
She is no other person than Adejoké ‘Joké’ Bakare, a Michelin-starred Nigerian chef in the United Kingdom and chef-owner of Chishuru, a Michelin-starred modern West African restaurant in Fitzrovia, London.
Apart from being Michelin-starred, the culinary expert, who is professionally known as Chef Joké, has so much going for her and many first-time feats in the global culinary space.
Chef Joké holds a remarkable place in culinary history as the first Black female chef in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star; she is currently the only Black female chef in the world still running her Michelin-starred restaurant and also the first Nigerian-born, West African chef to be Michelin-starred.
She was named Chef of the Year at the National Restaurant Awards in 2024, included in the Financial Times’ 25 Most Influential Women of 2024, and named in British Vogue’s 2025 List of Women Defining Britain.
Yet, Chishuru, her African-themed restaurant, which opened in Brixton in September 2020 and expanded to its permanent location in Fitzrovia in September 2023, enjoys strong critical acclaim till date, amid accolades including: Time Out’s Best Restaurant in London in 2022, becoming a Michelin star restaurant in February 2024, among others.
With above intimidating feats in the global culinary space and a successful career that spans over 25 years, Chef Joké’s visit to Nigeria this November is truly highly anticipated.
From November 4-7, 2026, the chef will run a special culinary residency at Lagos Continental Hotel, Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos, where she will bring Chishuru, her acclaimed London restaurant to Lagos diners.
She will delight palates with her six-course menu, which is specially crafted for Lagos. The specialty of the menu is the fact that it will draw on local produce; the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa food cultures that shaped Chef Joké.
Also, while here, Bakare and Chishuru’s senior team will not try to recreate the Fitzrovia restaurant in Nigeria. In response to the ingredients, energy and food culture of Lagos, the chef and her team will develop a menu specifically for Lagos.
Speaking at a press launch of the menu, which was part of the pre-event engagements at Milano Restaurant, Lagos Continental Hotel on September 23, 2026, Chef Joke, expressed her excitement on the visit and culinary residency at the hotel.
According to her, the residency will offer four exclusive dinners, while her specially crafted six-course menu will make extensive use of produce sourced in Lagos.
It will draw on the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa cultures and influences that shaped her childhood, alongside the technique and perspective she has developed during more than 25 years in London.
Offering more details, she noted that the menu will be served from 7.30pm daily for the four days and will be priced at US$300 per person.
‘I love Lagos and I love West African art,’ Chef Joké said in expression of her excitement to be home once again.
‘To cook here during one of the most creative weeks in the city’s calendar is incredibly special. Chishuru was shaped by the food cultures I grew up with and by the chef I became in London. This residency brings those parts of my story together.
‘I want to cook with what Lagos gives us now, create dishes that belong to this moment and hear directly from the people eating them.’
Apart from the food, drinks menu will also be created for the residency including; Chishuru’s Spiced Okra Martini, made with vodka, jalapeño and verjus, alongside Pedro’s Ògógóró, a spirit distilled in Lagos from palm sap. As well, Matt Paice, co-owner of Chishuru, will select wines to accompany the menu.
Also, she explained how she derived the name of the restaurant saying, ‘Chishuru is named after a Hausa phrase that translates literally as ‘eat silently’ or, more poetically, the silence that falls over the table when the food arrives’.
It reflects the cultures that formed Chef Joké. ‘I was born by a Yoruba father, and an Igbo mother. Then, my upbringing with Hausa culture in northern Nigeria, shaped me,’ she confessed.
She recalled moving to the UK in the late 1990s and did not work professionally in food until 2019, when she won a three-month restaurant residency in Brixton Village. That successful residency boosted the opening of Chishuru in Brixton in September 2020, but a much later partnership with Matt Paice, a restaurateur, saw the expansion and relocation of Chishuru restaurant to its permanent location at Fitzrovia in 2023.
However, the entire management and team at Continental Hotels Nigeria, particularly Lagos Continental Hotel, are more than excited to welcome and host Chef Joké.
Expressing the excitement, Christoph Schleissing, general manager, Lagos Continental Hotel, said: ‘We are filled with pride to welcome Michelin-starred celebrity chef Joké Bakare and the Chishuru team to Lagos Continental for this extraordinary culinary residency’.
According to Schleissing, welcoming the chef back to Lagos, a city so deeply woven into her story, is particularly meaningful considering that Chef Joké holds a remarkable place in culinary history as the first Black female chef in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star, and is currently the only Black female chef in the world still running her Michelin-starred restaurant.
The general manager further explained that the residency would be a truly special moment for Lagos judging by Chef Joké’s remarkable journey, creative vision and distinctive interpretation of West African cuisine, which have earned international acclaim.
‘For us at Lagos Continental, it is a privilege to provide the setting for this exceptional culinary homecoming and to offer our guests the opportunity to experience the artistry of Nigeria’s most celebrated culinary voice.
‘This residency is more than a dining experience; it is a celebration of Nigerian creativity, heritage and contemporary gastronomy, brought to life through exceptional cuisine, refined hospitality and the unmistakable spirit of Lagos,’ the general manager said.
Meanwhile, the residency will be held at a moment when Lagos will be welcoming artists, galleries, collectors and cultural leaders for ART X Lagos week.