Toss the peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, and chiles lightly in the remaining grapeseed oil and place in an even layer on the hot grill.

Each recipe in this fascinating book features a story about how the dish was developed, plus the influences of seasonality and produce from local producers. In this book, you feel the creative struggle that one must go through to do something truly special. But if I was to create a half-Chinese, half-Canadian jollof, I knew it would have to stand up in terms of flavor.In the hands of a less erudite chef such an approach could easily have been tedious and self-indulgent, but Chan’s prose is as captivating as his food. Leave to cool at room temperature, breaking it up with your hands and adding some cold butter and oil to further break apart the grains. There, he designed not only the Korean-inspired menu but also everything from the ceramics and cutlery to the uniforms and music. There’s also a series of candid and compelling essays in which Chan details his personal journey to becoming a chef, whether how he found particular inspiration in Chinese food amid his father’s insistence that he eat everything as a youngster, or a transcendent Sichuan hot pot in college that committed him to a life of spice.

Partnered with Nigerian-born Iré Hassan-Odukale, who handles front-of-the house, chef Jeremy Chan draws on a wide range of culinary influences even as he keeps an eye on the restaurant’s African inspirations. Standout dishes: Smoked Jollof rice and crab custard; fried Landes chicken and chicken offal hot sauce. I know if the jollof has been cooked correctly by listening to the frequency of the sizzle as the pan draws near the pass for plating. If you grow up in a Chinese family, you’re exposed to so many amazing flavors and types of ingredients: jellyfish, chicken feet, dumplings, noodles, all kinds of ingredients and ways of eating that you just don’t get with a Western upbringing.Each recipe in this fascinating book features a story about how the dish was developed, plus the influences of seasonality and produce from local producers. This is a tone and balance that other high-end cookbooks should ascribe: showcase the food how it is, give the reader descriptive insight into its flavors, and encourage personal exploration of the recipes that stand out.