This Founder's Letter is sponsored by Just Eat

The other great thing I love about cooking is that it is a way to stay close to my Nigerian culture. As someone who cooks predominantly Nigerian foods at home, cooking acts as a vehicle for my family to keep our culture close. However, I guess that is the beauty of food in general — with many of us (including myself) not being able to speak our mother tongue, or travel back to our heritage countries, food acts as a gateway to explore our heritage.

When I don't have the time to cook or generally want to treat myself, over the last few years, I've made a more proactive choice to grab takeaways or enjoy meetups and date nights at Black-owned restaurants. While I love sitting in these establishments experiencing unrivalled vibes and flavoursome foods, I also see being in bed by 10 pm as a badge of honour. So being able to order food from Black-owned restaurants to eat at home conveniently helps me stay not just connected to my Nigerian culture, but allows me to explore beautiful flavours from the diaspora.

The very first takeaway I ordered from a Black-owned restaurant was Chukus during the pandemic. As a new mum, ordering their wraps, which they were selling at the time, felt like a real treat. I've spent birthdays and work celebrations there and I love the fact you can still order from the Nigerian tapas restaurant via Just Eat if you want to explore Nigerian food in a modern way.

Over the past few weeks, I've eaten at both The Little Baobab—a Senegalese restaurant—and Jam Delish—a Caribbean vegan restaurant. At The Little Baobab, I was reminded of a book my daughter reads called "King Alboury Cooks the Best Jollof" by Kunda Kids. The book is about a young Senegalese king, and I thought this could be a great place to connect the dots for my daughter. That is the beauty of Black-owned restaurants: they don't just empower us economically, they allow us to explore our own culture and we are able to connect the dots and create fuller pictures of other black cultures in the diaspora.

As we all continue to think about what Black History Month means, ordering a cheeky takeaway from a Black Owned restaurant or dining out at one, helps us to reclaim the narrative of what is good food, a great dining experience and what cuisines are worth paying for. And beyond Black History Month, Black-owned restaurants are important as their walls and of course the food tell our history and facilitate today’s conversations, as we tuck into the flavours of the diaspora - something I will always be grateful for.