First Look: Akara Wednesday July 3rd
“Before there was bread, there was akara,” explains Aji Akokomi, founder of Akara, a recently opened West African restaurant in Borough Market.
Fed up with the lack of African dining options, five years ago Mr. Akokomi quit his IT job to launch his own West African concept. Today, the West African dining scene in London is as vibrant as ever with the likes of Chishuru and Ikoyi; however, it wasn’t always fun and games.
“No landlord wanted a West African restaurant on their property,” says Akokomi when he first started out. Tough luck for those landlords, as they missed out on Akoko, Akokomi’s first concept that won its first Michelin star within 18 months of opening.
With Akara, the sister restaurant to Akoko, Mr. Akokomi and Chef Ayo Adeyemi showcase a casual, everyday dining side of West African food.
Mr. Akokomi cites “West African” as a more appropriate term than calling their food Nigerian or Ghanaian. In his view, this cuisine exists in a continuum across the entire region of West Africa and even extends across the Atlantic as well.
“West African to me means blackness before colonization,” - Aji Akokomi
On a trip to Bahia, Brazil, Akokomi discovered his very own Yoruba ethnic group. There, they eat akara, the traditional fried black-eyed bean fritter, with prawns, while in Nigeria, they eat it with bread.
Unsurprisingly, akara features heavily on the menu at Akara along side dishes like Lagos style BBQ poussin, prawn, celeriac, and crab Akaras, short rib suya with charred onion and sweet pepper sauce, and Brazilian carrot rice. For dessert, Tres Leches tamarind & date cake with lemon verbena ice cream 😉
🍃 Please note, vegetarian menus are available for this event. Due to the sharing nature of this event we may not be able to cater for specific food allergies.
Live events:
Friday June 28th: Midsummer Crawfish Celebration at Plaquemine Lock
Come soak up the midsummer sun with a creole themed happy hour featuring lots of oysters, crawfish, and po-boys, 2 spots left!
Coming Up:
Wednesday July 10th: Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki at Jeux Jeux
Friday July 12th: EXCLUSIVE: Birria Taco Supper Club with Karla Zazueta
What we’ve been up to:
A Taste of Tuscan Paradise trip to Castello di Potentino
Our first ever international trip was a success! Wine making, cheese tasting, foraging, barbecuing, pasta making and more all in a medieval Tuscan Castle.
EXCLUSIVE Supper Club feat. Lá Lốt, A Modern Taste of Saigon
Our second ever exclusive supper club was a hit despite a rogue fire alarm
About Wednesdays:
Wednesdays is a club for adventurous food lovers. Established in 2022, Wednesdays is an independently owned bootstrapped business 100% supported by our 70+ members.
Members can attend unlimited Wednesday night restaurant events, access our weekend experiences including food crawls, trips, masterclasses, private chef supper clubs and get exclusive access to our Whatsapp community. 1
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