About the brand
Yaya's Kitchen was founded on a refusal: that African cuisine should be defined by the narrow handful of dishes the West already knows. The London, Ontario restaurant explores the richness of 54 African countries and more than 25 nations across the Caribbean and Latin America through an immersive blind tasting menu. Co-owners Malvin and Maryam Wright treat each service as an act of storytelling, tracing the movement of people, ingredients and techniques across the diaspora. It is fine dining as cultural education, built far from the expected culinary capitals. Yaya's Kitchen has become a destination that expands what Canadian diners (and Canadian cuisine) consider possible. In doing so it has made a small Ontario restaurant into an argument for a bigger, truer story of African food.
