Chishuru – the campaign

Joké Bakare opened Chishuru in Brixton Village in September 2020, a tiny 32-cover restaurant serving modern West African food, based on her Nigerian heritage. It was only ever supposed to be a three month popup but after a fabulous review in the Observer from Jay Rayner, our popup became a permanent restaurant.

Chishuru was named as TimeOut’s Best Restaurant in London in 2022, and listed in the top 100 restaurants in the UK in the National Restaurant Awards. Joké was named one of the most influential women in food by Code Hospitality in 2022.

We outgrew our Brixton space and now we are moving into the West End of London. We have featured in just about every “restaurants to look forward to in 2023” story, including the Evening Standard, Bloomberg, Eater, Hot Dinners and Infatuation, so expectations are high!

We’ve found a terrific site, just five minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus tube. We will have more than 50 covers over ground floor and basement, with an open kitchen and room to breathe! We are very excited to get started but restaurant fit-outs (even modest ones) never come cheap which is why we are now looking to raise funds to help with the costs.

What We Need & What You Get

We have some financing in place already but we need to raise £75,000 to complete our budget.

The site is in good condition in terms of electrics, plumbing and heating, but it needs a design overhaul, new furniture and some back-of-house appliances before we can open. Plus there’s the inevitable pre-opening cashflow requirements. So we’re raising money for:

• Design & build (giving the space the Chishuru look)
• New furniture
• Appliances (grill, fridges, freezers, mixers etc)
• Pre-opening expenses (legals, licensing)
• Upfront landlord costs (deposit, rent in advance)
• PR & marketing, including soft launch

We’re offering a number of different perks. Some are very simple, like lunch or dinner for two – just paying for these in advance helps our cashflow. Others are more unusual: pay to put your name on our “founders’ wall” in the restaurant, buy a meal kit for home delivery, buy a cooking class in the restaurant, or you can even book Joké to come and cook a dinner party at your home. See the Perks page for more detail.

The Impact

We’re incredibly excited to open “Chishuru 2.0” in central London. Joké’s food is one-of-a-kind and we can’t wait to present it on a bigger stage.

Risks & Challenges

Restaurants are inherently risky propositions, and although we had a great track record in Brixton, with profitable trading in our annual accounts for both 2021 and 2022, it’s impossible to predict the future in terms of things like:

• Food price inflation
• Labour inflation
• Energy price rises

We are confident in our business model and our ability to mitigate these challenges, but the risks exist.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please help spread the word for this campaign on email, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook… or send an “all company” email at work and get told off by your IT department!