Founded by Zoe Adjonyo, the chef left her Pop Brixton residency last month, after trading for three years from the development. Her spot has been filled by Columbian arepa restaurant Petare.
Adjonyo will be serving a new menu of Ghanaian dishes at the IOL, including starters of oto (yam and plantain) cakes with soft boiled egg; cassava crisps with scotch bonnet salsa; kenkey (sourdough dumpling) with sardines and red bean stew.
Larger dishes like jollof chicken with lettuce wraps; goat stew; and plantain pork belly can be ordered as main courses, while cinema goers can choose from a list of African-inspired cinema snacks such as akara fritters; okra; and fried plantain.
During the residency, the restaurant will host collaborations with leading chefs, championing African culture and woman in the industry.
The location for the new residency marks a return to east London for Adjonyo, whose first Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen traded from Hackney WickED arts festival, near London Fields.
“To think how much we’ve grown since a home-made sign saying ‘Zoe’s peanut butter stew’ is mind-blowing,” she says.
“I’m a huge admirer, and long-time patron, of the IOL, and to be laying down roots in such a wonderful space is a real honour.”
Adjonyo has held several residencies prior to her time at Pop Brixton, as well as a host of supper clubs.
She is regarded as a pioneer of Ghanaian and West African food in the capital, and recently launched a cookbook including recipes of some of her customers’ favourite dishes from her menu.
The IOL has previously hosted residencies with vegan Chinese restaurant Phung Kay, healthy vegetarian operator Hara, and Brazilian barbecue specialist BA.RN.