Nigeria To The World: Chef Tolu Erogbogbo Promotes Nigerian Cuisine At Coachella

Chef Tolu Erogbogbo, also known as Chef Eros, is on a mission to promote West African cuisine in the United States.

He has earned a reputation as a culinary hometown hero for flying with a suitcase filled with Nigerian spices and ingredients to create his authentic West African dishes.

Eros is the founder of three eateries, including ILÉ Eros, The Cookie Jar, and Eros & Gourmet in Nigeria, and he is the first West African chef to serve multi-course plates at the Coachella music festival.

In a recent interview he recalls his journey into the culinary world, “In Lagos, I started hosting dinner parties for friends and friends of friends as a way to bring people together and share stories over a meal”.

In the interview with Essence, he noted that European royals, Nigerian celebrities, and local debutantes would follow, showing face at Chef Eros’s businesses.

He said that at this time, he then started to host private, more intimate dinners for those looking for a sort of Nigerian “Omakase” experience. “Each dinner was filled with so much love and eventually word began to spread and private dinners for clientele like French President Emmanuel Macron and Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka [were organized],” says Eros. I got the tongue and cheek moniker ‘The Billionaire’s Chef’ and went with it.”

In March 2023, he opened a West African bistro and an experiential dining restaurant, both called ILÉ, in Los Angeles.

Eros is a self-taught chef who developed his passion for food while studying international business in the United Kingdom.

He is committed to sharing the flavours of his home country with new, less-informed consumers, and he believes that the special components of West African cuisine are native to the regions, locales, and soils of Nigeria for a reason.