First Look: A Beloved Nigerian Pop-Up Finally Gets a Permanent Location in Darlinghurst

Summy’s Kitchen, which recently opened a permanent site in Darlinghurst, labels itself as “proudly Nigerian”. And its namesake – Lagos-born chef Simbo “Summy” Fowora – brings more than 40 years of culinary experience from her birthplace. Not that these skills were acquired voluntarily – at least not initially.

“You spend hours learning from your mother in the kitchen; it’s not by choice,” the chef says, laughing. Her mother would cook three dishes at a time, and Fowora wasn’t allowed to write down any steps: she was instructed to “eyeball it” and pay close attention. Get distracted and you’d be in trouble.

“My mum is now 94. She said her mother taught her like that,” Fowora says. Those lessons paid off, as every dish the chef knows, from jollof rice to pounded yam (fufu), can be credited to her mum’s schooling.

You can sample these dishes at Summy’s Kitchen on Oxford Street, including the fried plantains Fowora loved to steal during her kitchen education. She’d sneak these golden, sweet fritters into her mouth, not realising her mother was keeping track of every plantain and very much aware that five or so were missing, which meant there were consequences.

Diners can enjoy punishment-free fried plantains at Summy’s Kitchen, as well as jollof rice channeling the flavours of her homeland – quite literally: “All my spices are from Nigeria,” Fowora explains. She purchases these organic ingredients from fourth-generation business owners she grew up with. Even though it costs “a fortune” to ship these goods to Australia, she considers the organic nutmeg and ginger pivotal to her take on the tomato-flavoured West African dish. She grates fresh ginger into the rice to enhance its flavour; adapts the Scotch bonnet chillies to people’s tastes (“Nigerians, we are known for spicy food,” she says, although she now prefers her jollof rice mild); and ensures her version is vegan, to be inclusive.

Sydney diners might recognise the Summy’s Kitchen name from a pop-up at Blacktown’s Westpoint mall that started in 2024. “We were supposed to stay in Blacktown for just three months,” she says. “We ended up staying 15 months.” But her goal was to move Summy’s Kitchen to a more central location on Darlinghurst’s main drag. The new location also offers dishes that she couldn’t present within the mall – like suya, a Nigeran street food she cooks over an open charcoal grill.

To prepare suya, Fowora flavours skewered chicken, beef or goat meat with a Nigerian spice rub called yaji. Organic roasted peanut powder is a key ingredient, but in keeping with the restaurant’s accommodating nature, the chef offers a peppered suya alternative for people allergic to nuts. All the meat dishes on the menu are halal, too.

Family is a consistent influence on Summy’s Kitchen. The chef’s grandmother’s superhero ability to cook 10 different meals at a time, and her mum’s intuitive culinary methods, helped push the chef’s skill level. Now Fowora “can cook for 50 people, 100, without measuring anything.”

Her children have all played a part in the new Darlinghurst restaurant, too – particularly her son, Olatoye (the upstairs Toye’s Lounge area is named after him). That space is where people can head after their meal to enjoy Afrobeats and palm wine, a Nigerian drink made from fermented sap that’s “just like having raw honey”.

Fowora says her experience offers an alternative take on the mantra “behind every successful man, there’s a woman”. She credits her five children for what the restaurant is today. “Without them, there’d be no Summy’s.”

Summy’s Kitchen
245 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst

Hours:
Wed & Thu 11.30am–2.30pm, 5.30pm–9pm
Fri 11.30am–2.30pm, 5.30pm–10pm
Sat midday–3pm, 6pm–10pm
Sun 1pm–5pm

summyskitchen.au
@summyskitchen_official