Vanessa Obioha
The open grounds of Eagles Club in Surulere was bustling with activities as the King of Street Foodz competition held its finale. The finale doubled as a musical celebration as well as a street food festival that paraded the best vendors of street food. It was conceived as a family event such that there were other activities like indoor games for attendees to engage in before the main competition kicked off.
For the finale hosted by OAP and king of hype in Nigeria, Dotun and renowned chef Soliat Bada, only six contestants made it. The contestants survived 13 weeks in the competition that bad them displaying exceptional creativity in their culinary skills.
The finalists include Martha Edem of Akara Café, who serves Akara and different pap options alongside key stars of an English breakfast menu; Box D Food by Fego Daniels, who specialises in flavourful shawarma with a generous dollop of free hugs; Crispy And Grills by Christopher Omowa, who makes crispy fries and crispy juicy toasties; Chef Segun Anifowose of King Glab Cuisine, who displayed a wide assortment of street food style meals; Simple Corner by Chinonso Attansey that takes delight in serving local spicy delicacies such as nkwobi, pepper soup and isi-ewu at their joint; and Soma Ofada By Oluwaseyi Gunre, who claims to serve the best Ofada rice and sauce.
In what was their final task, the contestants were given 30 minutes to prepare any dish of their choice, under the supervision of the judges. For its maiden edition, the judges included Etteh Assam Adetomi ‘Imoteda’ Aladeokomo also known as Chef Imoteda and Adedamola ‘AskDamz’ Ladejobi, a certified Personal Nutritionist and Weight loss expert.
After a nail-biting contest, Christopher Omowa emerged winner and was presented with a cash prize of N1,000,000 and other gift items from the sponsors. The first runner up got N500,000, while the second runner-up got N200,000. Meanwhile, all the 13 finalists will get their workplace renovated by the organisers.
Speaking at the event, the CEO of Maxima Media Group, owners of FoodBay TV, Femi Ogundoro observed that food is big everywhere in the world, adding that nothing stops it being bigger in Nigeria.
“With over 200,000,000 people, diverse cultures and tribes, why won’t food be bigger in Nigeria? One thing that can bring us together, either as African or Nigerians, is actually food. The challenge is that the government and international organisations are talking about food in a way the consumers do not understand. They talk about food security, they talk about agriculture, it is still food.
That’s what we stand for as FoodBay TV, which is a 24-hour channel to be launched very soon. We are focused on getting the best of food and putting African food on the world food map.”
While thanking the sponsors Devon King for believing in the project, Ogundoro revealed that there are plans to take the contest a notch higher in the second season.
However, the major highlight of the finale was the music performances by Zlatan and Teni. Both artistes who are crowd’s favourites didn’t fail to energise the crowd with their pulsating beats and flavorful lyrics. Not a few longed for the evening to continue as the artistes took them on a musical journey of their repertoires.
King of Street Foodz is a concept of Food Bay TV with the primary aim of celebrating street food in different parts of the country.
