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Steam rising in a dark professional kitchen with a silhouetted chef at the stove
The Farin Road story

It began with a question.

Not a business plan. A question asked in a Scottish kitchen by a chef shaped by Nigeria, Rwanda and Scotland.

Africa, interpreted.

Farin Road is a contemporary Pan-African culinary concept created by Nigerian-born chef Babatunde “Tunde Abi” Abifarin. It explores the continent through food, culture, memory, ingredients, travel, technique, storytelling and hospitality.

What happens when the flavours, memories and culinary traditions of Africa are interpreted through the eyes of a chef shaped by Scotland? That question is the whole of it. Farin Road is the ongoing answer.

The foundation draws most directly on Nigeria and Rwanda the pepper, the banana leaf, the smoke, the grain, the generosity of their tables interpreted through Scottish produce, seasons and the technique learned inside its kitchens. Three larders, one cooking.

It is not African food with a Scottish twist. That framing makes a gimmick of two serious food cultures. Farin Road is African cooking made by someone whose craft was formed on the east coast of Scotland and it tastes like both facts are true at once.

A candid black-and-white portrait of Chef Babatunde Abifarin
The chef

The question came from one cook.

Nigerian-born, Scotland-trained Babatunde “Tunde Abi” Abifarin asked the question Farin Road is still answering. The cooking is the conversation between where he comes from and where he was formed.

A West African market stall stacked with dried peppers and grains
Rugged Scottish coastline with fishing creels on wet dark rock

“Nigeria and Rwanda are the foundation. Scotland is part of the lens.”

The Farin Road philosophy

A journey, not a venue.

Farin Road moves. It has taken the form of supper clubs, pop-ups, tasting menus, collaborations and private tables each one a chance to cook a different part of the continent for a different room.

Every dish is treated as an entry point. A plate leads to a country, a country to an ingredient, an ingredient to a story, and the story back to the chef's own interpretation of it. Nothing is presented as the definitive traditional version of anything; these are readings, made with care and named as such.

The next chapters country stories, ingredient archives, a permanent Edinburgh home are being written now.

The journey

The Farin Road journey

Lagos to Leith, by way of a great many kitchens.

  1. Africa

    Nigeria

    Born in Nigeria. A childhood relationship with African food, ingredients, markets and hospitality.

  2. Scotland

    Scotland

    Arrival in Scotland, and the beginning of a professional culinary life in a very different larder.

  3. Scotland

    Professional kitchens

    Years inside premium hospitality classical European cooking, contemporary technique, service and operations.

  4. Africa

    Supper clubs & pop-ups

    African cooking returns to the centre of the work. Small rooms, long tables, a growing audience.

  5. Africa

    Farin Road

    The concept takes its name and its shape: Africa, interpreted.

  6. Africa

    Tani Modi

    A further chapter in the Farin Road story.

  7. Scotland

    Industry recognition

    BIH Chef of the Year 2022.

  8. Scotland

    Great British Menu

    Representing Scotland on Great British Menu.

  9. Africa

    The future

    More countries, more stories, more tables. A permanent home in Edinburgh in time.