Born of a teenage dream to make Nigerian food as readily available in the United Kingdom as other ethnic cuisines, we opened our doors on the 31st of May 2018. Our carefully curated menu offers something for everyone: fish, meat, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, spicy, mild, sweet, savory, traditional and not-so-traditional. Executive Mamaput, Nky Iweka, has drawn on her Anglo-Nigerian roots to create ‘Nigerian food with a twist’ as her oldest daughter describes it.
Nky has spent the last 10 years or so redefining Nigerian food, challenging the way in which Nigerian food is cooked and presented
A mother of two, she started off her professional career as a management consultant at Unisys and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was lucky enough to eat her way round the world (in addition to working in Finance Transformation for Blue-chip Companies, mostly in the Telecoms Sector).
“Worldwide, chefs are constantly reinventing their national dishes and creating truly beautiful masterpieces, worthy of any artist. I wanted the same for our food”.
Her first book, ‘Quintessentially Efik Recipes’ which showcases the dishes and culture of the Efik people of Southern Nigeria was published in 2014. Other books on Nigerian cuisine are in the pipeline.
Before she opened Pitanga, she offered a wide range of culinary services ranging from culinary training, front-of-house training and menu development to cooking for private clients.
A few years ago, she trained the executive catering staff of a large Nigerian organization, where she was asked to provide them with the ability to extend their menu options as well as improve their presentation of Nigerian food. In addition, she provided them with on-site support and consultancy. She also spent several months in Nigeria developing menus and staff capability for a boutique hotel in Lagos.
Key Media & Appearances
- CRBC, Nigeria (Sept 2015)
- ‘Nigerian Food Pops up in London’, BBC (Dec 2015)
- Annual Igbo Conference: Panel Speaker (Apr2014)& Featured Speaker Apr 2016)
- Guest Chef, Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, UAE (Apr 2016)