Chef Pat Ononibaku

Chef Bio

Pat Ononibaku has Masters Degree from University of Massachusetts. She worked at some local Human Service Agencies as an Administrator for more than a decade prior to opening her restaurant.

Pat's interest in food was influenced by watching her mother prepare elaborate delicious feasts effortless (without recipes) and her generosity to entertain guests during family meals. Food was always plentiful in the house. Food symbolized love, enjoyment and fun, friendship, entertainment, family pride, etc.

Pat gained her culinary and entrepreneurial skills from her mother who owned a grocery store, restaurant business and fashion boutique store. Pat helped out at the family restaurant briefly during school vacations when she was a teenager. Pat's mother also did catering as a hobby for religious and community fundraising events.

Pat was a teacher in Nigeria before she migrated to the United States in 1983 and during her college career at Umass, she started a part time catering business to promote positive aspects of African culture as Africa is often under appreciated in the western world. Her catering was very successful and some of her customers encouraged her to open an African restaurant.

In October of 2005, Pat filled a niche in restaurant scene, She opened the first and the only authentic African restaurant in town. Pat's philosophy about her restaurant business is to create a cozy, colorful, cultural and welcoming environment where customers and employees are treated with dignity and African cuisine is appreciated for good taste, good nutrition and good value.

Pat will start selling some of her popular food items such as the signature curry sauce, exotic mango curry sauce, handcrafted curry mix blend, organic cayenne pepper etc on line in January of 2007. The web site is currently under construction.'

 Chef Pat Ononibaku

Baku's

Amherst, MA

About the Restaurant

Specializing in West African cuisine, Baku’s is a unique addition to Western Mass’ culinary scene. The ethnic dishes look, taste and smell as if they were imported straight out of Nigeria, Ononibaku’s home country, and allow diners to experience not only new kinds of food but also a new culture. One of the staple dishes at Baku’s is the pounded yam, considered the ultimate comfort food in Nigeria. Another principal dish is Akara, black-eyed pea fritters with a taste similar to potato latkes and a consistency that is vaguely reminiscent of hush puppies. Baku’s makes it impossible for its patrons not to love plantains, which they prepare in three different ways and serve with their infamous and highly touted mango salsa. The flagship food of Baku’s is a traditional jollof rice, which is served with almost every meal. Described as a seasoned yellow rice, jollof is cooked with tomato paste and mixed with a unique blend of dried herbs, which gives it its signature aroma – a smell that permeates the entire restaurant and enhances the atmosphere of the venue. For a one of a kind dining experience, Baku’s – with its rare and exotic cuisine – is the place to go.

Recipes from Episode 507