Akwaaba wins Lexington casual dining comp

The final stage of Lexington’s Casual Dining Competition was held recently with the Akwaaba team being awarded the winner’s crown. They will see the concept being introduced across the business and enjoy a British artisan cheese makers tour, hosted by Patrick Spinazza from The Cheese Geek.

Akwaaba, which means ‘you are warmly welcome’ in Ghanaian, was created by chef Andrew Thwaites, who is originally from Ghana, to showcase the core spirit of his home country’s hospitality. From low and slow open-fire cooking methods, using tropical produce, to west African-patterned shirts hand stitched by one of the team member’s aunt, the concept is truly authentic. The food included a fragrant waakye from north Ghana and a rich vegetarian staple of Akan cuisine known as kontomire.

This year’s winner had stiff competition in the form of entries including concepts based on the Silk Road, Colombian street food, luxury plant-based desserts and cocktails, Turkish pide flatbreads, Tulum-inspired Mexican food and vegetarian thali dishes.

Matt Wood, managing director of Lexington, said: “This competition provides a true showcase of the passion and creativity that our business excels in. We have seen a more diverse range of concepts this year and it is truly exciting to see our people pull together to create such innovative concepts.”

Thwaites added: “I am absolutely overjoyed that our team won and that we will be introducing more people to experience Ghanian home-style cuisine in all its glory.”

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