With 10 restaurants in London, two in Dubai, ongoing plans for Atlanta, USA, and others, Enish is the biggest Nigerian restaurant chain in the world today.
Olushola Medupin, a dynamic and enterprising young Nigerian, and founder of Enish Restaurant, was in the country recently, he speaks to Obinna Emelike on the feats of the restaurant in abroad, impact on Nigeria’s image, menu, expansion plans and the $3 million Dubai outlet.
Congratulations on the speedy expansion of Enish brand across the world. But how did it start?
My name is Shola Medupin. I am from the Yoruba-speaking part of Kogi State.
We started Enish in London in October 2013. The name Enish is derived from initials of my wife’s name and mine as well. My wife’s name is Eniola, while I am Shola.
So, we coined Enish from the first three letters of her name and the first two letters of my name. But the rationale for Enish is that we have seen a lot of Nigerian restaurants abroad and they look dirty and my question is always, must it be a dirty place because we go to other restaurants in Central London and other places and they look decent.
Even when I need to take my friends out, I find it difficult going to a Nigerian restaurant in London because of the lack of decent Nigerian dining outlets.
So, that was how the idea of Enish came up, we wanted to do something different and we started a restaurant.
The first two years were a bit difficult, but after that teething period, everything picked up.
How many restaurants do you have at present?
Now we have 10 restaurants in London and 2 in Dubai.
The first one was in Lewisham in London. We opened the second in Finchley Road, from there to Cradling, to Ilford, to Bristling, Old Kent Road, Camberwell, Camberwell Green and we just acquired one in the West End of London. It is the biggest place in London now, and a prime location.
We also opened one in Dubai, on Sheik Zayed Road. It is our first restaurant out of London and it is doing well.
They also offered me another place in The Palms, which has the biggest water fountain in Dubai. In December they had the biggest firework in Dubai and we have been working on it because it is a $3 million project and we hope to be done in two weeks time and looking for an opening around the end of June.
We are working on another project in Atlanta, USA, and after the USA outlet, we will consider Nigeria.
What is the composition of your guests in the London and Dubai restaurants?
It is amazing the patronage from Londoners. The patronage at the restaurant in Finchley Road in London is composed of 60 percent whites and 40 percent Nigerians. I am the best Nigerian restaurant in London, so any media in the UK that wants to partner Nigeria, they do come to Enish. We have done some projects with BBC, Google, Sky, and we have hosted artistes such Davido, Anthony Joshua, who we hosted in Dubai, among others.
Any plan for restaurants for all Africans abroad?
We opened another restaurant in January, which we called Enish Africa; it has more than five different African countries to serve-Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria.
It is a buffet service; you come, buy and pay. It is for all Africa and it is doing very well since opening. I am even thinking of renaming and rebranding as Enish Africa.
But I am pro-Nigeria. When we first got to Dubai, I wanted to focus on Nigeria, because Nigeria is doing well. But Dubai is a showbiz destination; they bring in a lot of artistes. If there is a Nigerian artiste somewhere, other Nigerian restaurants will not be busy. So, when they were planning another visit by a Nigerian artiste, I called a Kenyan promoter to bring his artistes for us to do something.
So, when they were hosting Davido and I had a Kenyan artiste, the restaurant was very packed, that was when I realised that it should be more than Nigeria, it should be Africa.
The fact is that Kenya has more population in Dubai than Nigeria, even Uganda. So, it is more profitable to host an African-wide artiste and offering and not just focusing on Nigeria alone in Dubai.
So, we are marketing the new restaurant as a destination. It is going to be an African hub, we will be having pop ups during the week and spicing things up with African varieties.
Apart from Nigerians and probably other Africans, how appealing are your menu to foreigners?
My concept is local food in a five-star environment. Our food has so many flavours that even the whites appreciate. Sadly, it is Nigeria that really doesn’t appreciate her food.
It is local, but well presented. When they come in, they appreciate the sophisticated environment and that further indulges them to patronise us. We are doing everything good, it is just the environment and presentation that we have been lacking.
I can present pounded yam and ‘egusi’ soup, which you know, in a way that you will hardly recognize the well-known menu again. It is still a local taste. Foreigners like sophisticated restaurants, but want the menu to be as local or authentic as it is in the country of origin.
If you eat in a Chinese restaurant anywhere in the world, it is still the same menu and taste they offer in their home country, China.
I think Nigerians and Africans at large should start appreciating our local food. Surprisingly, the local food I serve has taken me to places and many people are appreciating the effort, creativity, presentation and all that go into the menu.
For instance, there has not been any Nigerian restaurant in Central London, and we are going to be the first and it will still be the same local menu. When you come there, you will feel and eat the local menu.
What is the best-selling Nigerian menu for foreigners in your restaurants?
Jollof rice, egusi soup, and efo riro eaten with pounded yam in Dubai. Also in Dubai, we have what we called gold-plated pounded yam. It is pounded yam wrapped in 24-carat foil. It is all about presentation because Dubai is showbiz, when you serve that guests are thrilled to see and taste it.
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What about complaints that Nigerian food is always spicy?
We have a standard; we do mild, and if you want it spicier, we will offer you too. But the whites keep asking us how come our food is not spicy because they thought Nigerian food is very spicy. But an average Nigerian abroad does not like much pepper like folks at home.
How do you maintain the same standard across all your outlets in London and Dubai?
I have my own strategy. I have Enish Restaurant and Bar, Enish Restaurant and Lounge Enish Bukka and Enish Africa. The fact is that you can go to any Enish, but you will feel like you are in a different restaurant. For instance, in some of the restaurants we use clay plates to serve.
How do you ensure the menu is truly local?
We get most of our food stuff from Nigeria and our cooks are Nigerians. If I am doing Ghana or South Africa, it has to be local Ghanaian and South African cooks because I don’t like chefs, I prefer cooks, the local ones; they know the food and the cooking strategy.
Can you explain your passion for food?
Kitchen is the best part of the house for me. Before I choose a house, I have to consider the kitchen first. Even before the restaurant, I used to cook for friends. I have passion for cooking.
My grandparents had a restaurant and my mother took over. So, we grew up with restaurants. Again, I started cooking rice at the age of seven.
I know a lot about food and that is what I have been doing all my life from my mother, grandmother. They are food experts.
What about your Dubai outlets, especially the new one?
It is the second one in Dubai and the 12 of all the restaurants.
Right now, we are on $3 million for the second restaurant in Dubai. The first one was cheaper, about $1 million to establish.
Any plans for a Nigerian restaurant soon?
Well, we have London and Dubai restaurants. We are going to Atlanta and after that we will come to Nigeria because the Nigerian restaurant will be the biggest of them all. It will be in Lagos.
Do you think your feat abroad is changing the narrative for Nigeria?
In London we have almost 200 Nigerians working in our restaurants and they are happy where they work. But before then, they will not go near a Nigerian restaurant to work, all because of the sophistication and work environment.
Now a lot of people and organisations want to partner with us. From the BBC, Google, which did free advertisements for us in five TV channels, people want to connect with Enish. But initially in Dubai, they did not want to give us space for a restaurant in a hotel because it is a five-star hotel. They said they don’t want a Nigerian outfit and it did not go well with me. If it was in the UK I would have taken it up. But I stood my ground that Nigerians are not a nuisance and that we are from the UK and we run the biggest Nigerian restaurant chain in London. It was a white lady, the director of the company, who is from the UK that recognized Enish and our quality and allowed us. Even when we got there, some were laughing at us and asking where we will get money to maintain the place because it is quite expensive; about $30,000 a month rent. Even one of the kings came and asked how we are going to maintain the place because people underrate Nigeria.
Some gave us three months to pack up, but after one year, we are the best restaurant in the hotel, and making the highest sales. Another outfit has invited me to establish in their place too. In the UK, USA and other places, people want to work with Enish. So, things are changing, and Nigeria is picking up. We really worked hard to change the narratives and it is impacting positively on brand Nigeria.
With your visit to Nigeria, is Enish looking to partner with some Nigerian brands in furthering its expansion?
I am in the country to see for myself what works and the concept we can bring into our Nigeria outlet when we start here. I have visited 12 restaurants and six clubs and more to see before leaving the country.
Here in Nigeria, we had meetings with Nike Art Gallery, Wakanow, among others. There will be collaborations because my vision is to make Enish an African hub, where when you think of Africa, you think of Enish.
