How Nigerian BBQ Became London's Best Street Food

When I first met Chef Kola, the owner of SUUYAR in London, he was shouting. His shouts had meaning—"Meat on fire!" meant: Put his marinated beef on the grill. "Let it go!" meant: Serve the plated meal to the guest. "Who is working with me directly?!" meant: One of his employees needed to come to him immediately. But one cry didn't make sense to me: "STOP SLEEPING ON MY DESTINY!" Chef Kola's destiny is to make Nigerian suya. He's been grilling this marinated beef over charcoal in Peckham since 2018. He learned it from the Hausa—one of the ethnic groups of Nigeria, who invented the dish—over 20 years ago. But his version is different, modified to bring the best out of British beef, with a "suya pepper" completely his own, mixed on the streets before your eyes. "I'm an Aries," Kola told me. "And Aries is fire sign. And I'm working with fire. I love it." 📍 SUUYAR 152B Rye Ln, London SE15 4NB, United Kingdom CREDITS: Rob Martinez - EP/Camera Operator/Editor Louis Glenn - Director of Photography/Camera Operator Louis Walters - Production Assistant Gabriel Reyes - Editor Kolawole Ajayi - Talent