Chef Dumebi
For Chef Dumebi, food has never been limited to what is served on a plate. It carries memory, preserves culture, creates opportunity and shapes the way people experience hospitality.
As a chef, educator, hospitality consultant, storyteller and culinary entrepreneur, she has built a body of work spanning restaurants, food brands, teaching, media, cultural storytelling and thoughtfully curated experiences.
Whether you're here to discover The First Table, attend an experience, develop a hospitality concept or explore a creative partnership, welcome.
You're in the right place.
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A Life Built Around Food, People and Possibility
Food has the remarkable ability to cross cultures, spark conversations and create connections that words often cannot.
Throughout her career, Chef Dumebi has remained guided by a simple belief: Hospitality is one of the most powerful ways we care for one another.
That belief has shaped restaurants, inspired dishes, educational programmes, influenced hospitality businesses and brought people together through experiences that celebrate generosity, curiosity and culture.
Today, her work extends far beyond the kitchen.
She collaborates with restaurants and food businesses, mentors aspiring professionals, develops culinary concepts, hosts immersive dining experiences, speaks on hospitality and entrepreneurship, and continues to explore how African food can be experienced, understood and celebrated on a global stage.
Every project begins with the same question: How Can Food Bring People Closer Together
The First Table
The First Table is Chef Dumebi’s cookbook memoir, newsletter and growing cultural platform exploring food, memory, migration, family, travel and the people who shape the way we eat.
It began with a personal question:
What was the first table that made you who you are?
Hospitality You Don't Just Watch.
You Experience.
The most memorable meals are not simply eaten; they are felt. Through intimate dinners, seasonal brunches, cooking classes, live demonstrations, culinary conversations and immersive gatherings, Chef Dumebi creates spaces where food becomes the beginning of discovery and connection.
Each experience is developed around flavour, atmosphere and the people in the room, leaving guests with something that stays with them beyond the final course.
Helping Hospitality Brands Build Experiences People Remember.
Drawing on her years of experience across culinary operations, restaurant development, education, menu strategy and brand building, Chef Dumebi works with restaurants, food founders, hospitality businesses and organisations ready to turn ideas into stronger commercial concepts.
Her consultancy combines strategic thinking with practical implementation. The work may begin with a menu, a struggling operation or an undeveloped idea, but the objective is always the same: to create a business that is clearer, more efficient and more valuable to the people it serves
One Vision; Twelve Distinct Culinary Concepts
Bistrot Samantha is a chef-led culinary and creative space in Ikoyi, Lagos. More than a traditional restaurant, it brings together food, culture, storytelling and community through tasting experiences, intimate events, collaborations and content creation.
Home to a growing family of food brands, Bistrot Samantha is a place where familiar West African flavours are explored in fresh and thoughtful ways; rooted in culture, guided by technique and designed to bring people together around the table.
Brioche Bakery Lagos is a modern bakery and café built around rich doughs, artisan breads, pastries, all-day breakfast and coffee. The brand combines premium bakery craft with familiar, playful flavours, offering both sweet and savoury products that work for individual treats, breakfast, gifting, office orders and celebrations. Its range includes brioche rolls, cinnamon rolls, croissants, doughnuts, sandwiches, salads and seasonal bakes.
Sam’s Poulet is a focused fried-chicken brand created around crisp coating, juicy chicken and bold sauces. Its strength is simplicity: a small, repeatable menu of chicken pieces, tenders, wings, sandwiches and sides that can be produced consistently and marketed through a strong weekly ritual such as Fried Chicken Fridays. The brand is fun, direct, delivery-friendly and built for cravings.
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Stories Worth Pulling Up a Chair For
The conversation continues after the plates have been cleared
The Journal
Straight From Chef's Notebook
In the Journal, Chef Dumebi shares recipes, flavour systems, restaurant lessons, culinary travel notes and reflections on food, culture, entrepreneurship and hospitality.
It is part kitchen notebook, part professional perspective and part invitation to look more closely at the role food plays in our lives.
Explore
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Recipes and Flavour Systems
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Translation, Not Fusion
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Restaurant and Hospitality
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From the Kitchen
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Culinary Travel
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Food and Culture
The Best Conversations Are Still Ahead
Let us create something worth remembering.
Whether you are planning an experience, developing a hospitality business, exploring a partnership, or following the journey of The First Table, there is a place for you within Chef Dumebi’s growing world
"Chef Dumebi is an amazing chef with wonderful energy and is very hospitable. She has full knowledge of all cultures and cuisines. Her teaching technique is perfect for understanding entire recipes."
– Shabber Ahmed
"Having a class and chef who specialises in West African and plant-based cooking is such a treat and I am so thankful that it was Chef Dumebi. We made a plant-based jollof rice which was absolutely delicious! Chef Dumebi was so personable and knowledgeable; I have genuinely learnt so much that will stay with me and improve my cooking from now on."
– Imani Tokpanoude
"Chef Dumebi was a very personable and knowledgeable teacher. She made us feel very welcome and taught us to cook the most delicious jollof rice. We will be able to cook it at home now, which is what we wanted. Thank you so much for the class and all the connections you made between different cuisines."
– Ruth Morris
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