Meet Joke Bakare: UK’s First Black Female Michelin Star Chef

Joke Bakare Becomes Second Black Female Michelin Star In the World

Michelin star chef

A Nigerian, Joke Bakare recently became the UK’s first black female Michelin chef. The Nigerian-born UK chef and founder of Chishuru, a West-African-themed restaurant in London, was awarded a Michelin star, a prestigious mark of distinction given to restaurants for excellent cooking.

The star comes less than 6 months after Chisuru established a permanent place in Fitzrovia, a then pop-up shop in Brixton Village. Coming from a small locality of Brixton Village, the restaurant quickly grew to prominence due to the variety of affordable dishes it offered in a particularly high-end environment.

Michelin’s Chief Inspector in the UK described Bakare’s cuisine as “unique and…a wonderful reflection of her personality and her cooking”

Joke Bakare: UK’s First Black Female Michelin Star Chef“It is fun, full of life, generous, and hugely enjoyable,” they said, praising her for offering superb cooking that greatly enhances the UK’s culinary offering.

What a Michelin Star is

A Michelin Star is awarded to restaurants offering outstanding cooking. We take into account five universal criteria: the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavours, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine and, just as importantly, consistency both across the entire menu and over time.

Along with seeking out new Stars, Michelin continually reassesses existing Star restaurants to ensure the same high standard of cooking is being offered to guests.

How a Michelin Star is Judged

The Michelin star is judged by a body of famously anonymous Michelin Inspectors – all full-time employees who are former restaurant and hospitality professionals – make the decisions. Once several inspectors have eaten at a restaurant, they then discuss their experiences as a team in order to make a final decision.

How to Become a Michelin Star Chef

To become a Michelin star chef factors such as the quality of the products offered by a restaurant; a chef’s mastery of flavor and cooking techniques; the chef’s ability to imbue the cuisine with his or her culinary “personality;” and consistency between visits, not just when it comes to food but also encompassing the overall dining experience are considered.

To achieve this, chefs can do the following:

Be Meticulous

A restaurateur needs to treat every night as if it’s the night of a Michelin inspection, and chefs and staff must be meticulously trained to ensure everyone is working together and on the same page. By ensuring that every diner’s experience on any given night is as exceptional as possible, only then will a restaurant be in the running for a Michelin star.

Train Under Michelin-Starred Chefs

For a chef seeking a Michelin star, it can be beneficial to train under a chef who has already earned one or more. By becoming the protégé of a chef who’s already earned the respect of Michelin, an up-and-comer aspiring toward Michelin stardom can more easily get on Michelin’s radar.

Use The Finest Ingredients

Michelin-starred chefs have been known to personally source unique, hard-to-find ingredients, forging relationships with farmers, artisan bakers, cheese-makers and the like in order to work with the only the best, most unique ingredients possible. Cutting corners is not the way to a Michelin star.

Creativity

Being on the cutting edge of new food trends, with a relentless pursuit of excellence combined with a drive to push the envelope, is a great way to attract Michelin’s attention. The Michelin Guide would have a tough time ignoring an innovative chef whose cuisine is being talked about as the “next big thing” in the food world.

How the Michelin Star Helps Restaurants and Chefs

Restaurants with Michelin stars typically see an increase in customers and bookings. Some say that restaurants with one star see a 20% increase in business, two stars see a 40% increase, and three stars see a 100% increase.
Michelin stars can also help restaurants retain staff and transform a chef’s reputation. For aspiring chefs, receiving a Michelin star can be a defining moment in their career. 

How Many Michelin Star Chefs are in The world

There are currently about 2500 restaurants awarded 1 Michelin Star in the world, 500 restaurants with 2 Michelin Stars and around 150 awarded 3 Michelin Stars.

Michelin stars are usually awarded to the restaurants and not individuals, Chef Yoshihiro Murata is the only chef in the world to hold seven Michelin stars. He is the third generation of Japanese super chefs to run the century-old Kikunoi restaurant in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

How Many Michelin Star Restaurants are in London

There are currently 80 Michelin-starred restaurants in London, up from 71 last year. These restaurants include 61 restaurants in London with one Michelin star,  Some restaurants in London with two Michelin stars, and a few with three Michelin stars.

How Many Black Michelin Star Chefs are in The World

There are only six black Michelin star chefs across the world with Adejoke Bakare being the latest. other Michelin star black chefs include:  South Africa’s Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen who in 2016 became the first African chef to be awarded a Michelin Star for his restaurant, Jan. A South African restaurant based in the south of France.

Also, Iré Hassan-Odunkale is a co-founder of Ikoyi, Another West African-leaning restaurant based in London. Ikoyi was launched in 2017, directly taking its name from the affluent neighborhood where Hassan-Odunkale grew up.

The restaurant has a Two Star rating in the 2024 Michelin Guide. A part of the restaurant’s menu utilizes West African ingredients, introducing a contemporary take like their un-traditional smoked jollof rice with lobster custard.

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Another African of Senegalese and Malian Descent, Mory Sacko a famous chef in France, who has been rapidly rising in the French culinary scene had his first restaurant MoSuke, opened in 2020 awarded with a Michelin Star.

Georgiana Viou, a self-taught chef from Benin who had originally arrived Paris in 1999, hoping to be a translator is the second black female Michelin chef. In 2023, her restaurant, Rogue, located in Nimes, France, whose meals is a fusion of Mediterranean influences (South of France) and her Beninese roots was awarded the Michelin star.

 

 

 

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