Nigerian restaurateur Aduke excites Los Angeles Times

A Nigerian restaurant named Aduke African Cuisine has attracted the attention of Los Angeles Times co-critic Bill Addison, who has been diligently spreading around his restaurant reviews over the past few months, jumping from high-end places like Spago to Shanghaiese food in the San Gabriel Valley.

The Nigerian restaurant itself is named for chef/owner Aduke Oluwafunmilayo Oyetibo, who moved to the States six years ago but only opened her restaurant in March.

Oyetibo mostly stays behind the stoves — much of the time she’s busy managing catering orders as well as cooking for restaurant customers — but she occasionally sweeps through to greet guests. You know when she’s around: Her smile could dissipate fog.

The food, from the pounded yam fufu to the okra stew known as ila alasepo, is both interesting and abundant in flavour, leading diners on a walking path through greens, spice, and a whole country’s worth of textures.

A leafy tumble called efo riro appears on many tables. In southwestern Nigeria, cooks often make the dish with amaranth greens, smoked fish, beef and sometimes cow tripe; Oyetibo adapts hers using spinach and often couples it with unsmoked white fish. I’m directed toward eba (pounded cassava, delicate in texture and peachy in color) or semo (as in semolina, which is milder and firmer) as matching swallows.

The restaurant is a meandering kind of place, with dishes taking their time to emerge from the kitchen, but that just leads to friendliness among the 13 tables, and a sense that community here is just as important as the jollof rice.

People of all backgrounds stop by Aduke; the Nigerians and Ghanaians who dine here disappear into their plates with expressions that resemble relief. I learn where they’re from because diners tend to be friendly and chat with one another: Oyetibo is making every plate to order, often by herself, and it can take 45 minutes or so for your food to arrive.

If your hunger is urgent, ask for moin moin (also known as moi moi), a steamed pudding made from pureed black-eyed peas that sped out of the kitchen during my meals. Its glossy, pleasant sponginess brings to mind ankimo, the steamed monkfish liver dish prized at sushi bars, though of course the flavor of moin moin, seasoned with garlic and red pepper, intones the land rather than the sea.

Otherwise, settle in and sip zobo, a gingery drink dyed deep purple from hibiscus, or effervescent palm wine. Oyetibo’s warm presence and heartening cooking will show in due time. They merit the wait.

The restaurant has been her goal since she arrived in the United States six years ago. She worked as a caregiver and behavior technician and moonlighted to break into the professional cooking arena: She began by seeking out West African restaurants throughout Los Angeles and selling them fried snacks, including chin chin (cracker-like morsels often scented with nutmeg) and fluffy, doughnut-like puff puffs.

*Read More: https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2019-07-24/aduke-african-cuisine-nigerian-restaurant-bill-addison

*Aduke African Cuisine is at 6118 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.