When I call Mobolaji Adeniyi, he’s just getting into his car after a full day’s training at “chef school”.
He knows how to cook, but with restaurant number two on the horizon and branching out to a new city, the former oil and gas worked figured it was about time he got his certification.
Gidi Grill is Dundee’s only restaurant dedicated to West African and Caribbean cuisine and owner Mo is looking to take the concept to the Granite City this summer.
His restaurant is currently being renovated on Union Street and will replace the former Jones shoe shop.
Dundee vs Aberdeen
It will seat 70 to 80 covers, which is a considerable amount more than his Dundee venue at City Quay on Camperdown Street.
He said: “There’s a lot of work and investment still to put into it. Dundee was a proof of concept. It wasn’t the size we wanted, but we tried it out and it worked.
“Aberdonians came to the restaurant a lot and we saw a bit of a trend. There are big plans to regenerate Aberdeen and improve the economy, so we wanted to get in early.
“It was easier for us to manage Dundee and Aberdeen and we have friends in Aberdeen who told us we need to be here.”
Securing the lease for the property in June last year, Mo has spent the past few weeks refurbishing the place, although from where he’s sitting he says “there’s plenty still to do”.
What makes the Aberdeen restaurant different to its Dundee sister venue is its takeaway concept, Giddy Street, that it will be running from the rear of the venue on Langstane Place.
Offering collection for its customers who don’t want to dine in, the menu will have a slightly different menu, but it will also feature many of the Gidi Grill favourites.
Specialising in West African and Caribbean cuisine, Mo is interested in bringing new flavours to the city and will employ around 12 staff members to bring his vision to life.
However, with chef shortages still affecting the hospitality sector, he’s turned to the Home Office to lend him a hand to bring chefs from the Caribbean, Jamaica and Nigeria to the area.
Must try dishes
The menu at Gidi Grill is varied, and many of the dishes will be cooked on the Josper Grill with most of the meats being marinated in Mo’s unique blends of house spices and sauces.
From steak to seafood, pasta, salads, speciality dishes and burgers, customers can experience authentic flavours of his home country.
“We have a meat platter that is a meat basket – it is a type of mixed grill. I want to have a taster meat platter sharer that will showcase a selection of our best meats,” said Mo.
“Our hake and prawn dish with Jollof rice dish is amazing. Our spiced mac and cheese with jerk chicken is always really popular and our chicken fillet and burgers are good.
“We do a smoked pork belly on the barbecue and it sits on a bed of pineapple chutney and plantain. There’s a real mixture of dishes on our menu. Everyone loves our nachos as they are a bit different.”
Mo will look to have the venue fully licensed to be able to offer the same drinks including cocktails, beers, wines, spirits and more.
With plans to potentially expand into other cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh if Aberdeen proves the hit he hopes it will be, Mo has set up a commercial kitchen where he will make up the sauces and spice blends used in the dishes to ensure consistency across all the venues.
He said: “I work in the kitchen and most of the recipes are mine. The head chef will run the two kitchen teams in Dundee and Aberdeen as I want the quality to remain the same.
“The sauces and spices I’ll produce myself to ensure everything is the same quality and we’ll have a prep team that will work between the venues.
“This is a test for opening elsewhere so we’ll use our commercial kitchen to prep all of the items that need to be consistent across the brand.
“I have an MBA and a degree in project management but I just want to have my chef certificate, as well. I’m in the kitchen at the college one day a week just now training.”
