London’s first Nigerian tapas restaurant is turning 10 – and it all started with a Skype call

Siblings Emeka and Ifeyinwa Frederick are on a mission to showcase Nigerian culture (Picture: Damian Erskine)

Being the world’s first Nigerian tapas restaurant is a badge Chuku’s wears proudly. But it wasn’t always a smooth journey for founders Ifeyinwa and Emeka Frederick, a brother-sister duo who started the restaurant as a pop-up in 2016.

‘We completely underestimated how popular we’d be,’ says Ifey.

It was the middle of winter in Hackney Wick, and Ifey and Emeka were hosting one of their first ever pop-ups. The queue was growing, and every plate had to be collected from a kitchen hatch outside.

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