The nationwide philosophy of teranga is about far more than a heat welcome. It’s making folks wish to keep. That’s precisely what Khadim Mané does at Little Baobab
When chef Khadim Mané first arrived within the UK in 2010, he didn’t know the best way to cook dinner. Dishes so simple as eggs and plain rice have been a problem.
When he grew up up in Dakar, Senegal, his mom and sisters had all the time owned the kitchen. If he wandered in, it was normally to seize a snack or to reluctantly assist clear rice in alternate for pocket cash.
“Men didn’t cook in Senegal,” he says. “That’s how I grew up.
“The moment I realised it was wrong was when I left home. Being by yourself, you struggle. I was tired of eating chicken and chips. I wanted to eat my own food but I couldn’t find any Senegalese restaurants around me.”
Mané, 46, is the proprietor and head chef of Little Baobab, a Senegalese restaurant based mostly in the Africa Centre, within the south London district of Southwark. Little Baobab has constructed its fame and constant clientele across the spirit of teranga — a Wolof phrase for the Senegalese philosophy of generosity and bringing folks collectively.
For Mané, the idea goes past easy hospitality. “It’s about sharing,” he says. “It’s good to have that connection and assist one another. That’s Senegal.
“If I have one loaf of bread and there are other people there, I will share it with them. I’m not just going to think, ‘This is mine, I worked hard for this, it’s just for me.’”
When I meet Mané at Little Baobab’s month-to-month teranga occasion, that includes a buffet, dwell music and attaya — Senegalese tea — he’s upstairs ending a bowl of jollof rice forward of rehearsals with the musicians performing later that night. Though normally head chef, tonight he’s taking up the function of bass participant.
Downstairs, as visitors slowly start to reach, employees are busy arranging buffet trays of grilled hen, vegetarian mafe — a standard Senegalese peanut stew — jollof and plantains.
Also on the menu are beignets dougoup (candy, deep-fried dough balls), spinach stew, a wealthy black-eyed pea stew referred to as ndambe, thiebou yapp (rice with lamb) and fish fataya pastries.
As the night will get below manner, the room grows busier. Mané tells me he’s anticipating round 50 folks. Diners weave between the tables carrying plates piled excessive with meals.
By the time the music begins upstairs, each seat within the eating space is full. The room hums with dialog as visitors settle into their meals whereas waiters ship trays of drinks together with baobab and bissap juice.
Watching Mané drift by way of the room greeting prospects — some clearly regulars — it’s tough to think about that simply 16 years in the past, he couldn’t even boil rice or chop onions.
When requested if he may have imagined internet hosting evenings like this again then, Mané laughs. “Never,” he says.
“We all have something sleeping inside of us but we don’t know. I never thought I would be a chef,” he says. “When I told my family and my friends it was what I wanted to do, they were laughing at me.” Now, he says, they’re pleased with him.
Mané’s introduction to the kitchen got here by chance in 2011, by way of a buddy who ran a Moroccan meals stall at festivals in Leeds. Initially, he had solely agreed to assist arrange the tents.
“He wanted help with the food,” Mané recollects. “I told him, ‘I need the money but don’t have a clue about kitchens or how things work.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Just come.’’”
At first, Mané discovered just by watching. The first dishes he made have been north African staples together with brik (flaky filo pastries with quite a lot of fillings) and tagines. Slowly, he started choosing up methods and confidence within the kitchen.
One day, after displaying Mané the best way to make shakshuka, the chef briefly stepped away and requested him to arrange one other batch himself for the primary time.
“I was scared,” Mané says. “I thought: ‘I’m going to destroy this.’”
But, later that night, prospects praised the dish. “Three people came to me and said, ‘Since we’ve been eating with you guys, you’ve never made this sauce like this.’”
For the following three years, Mané labored together with his buddy’s competition enterprise, slowly studying the best way to cook dinner north African dishes.
When he obtained again to London, he needed to recreate the meals he had cherished as a toddler however had by no means discovered to make himself. He started cooking every day, continually phoning siblings and asking for ideas and recipes.
Soon, Mané discovered work at a restaurant serving Spanish and English meals. Occasionally, he would ask the homeowners if he may add a Senegalese dish to the menu. Monday nights have been normally quiet, so he began inviting musician mates to play Senegalese music within the restaurant. Eventually, they have been there three nights every week.
He known as the evenings Dakar Nights. “That’s where everything started,” he tells me.
“There wasn’t any Senegalese food around,” he says. “A lot of people are not familiar with it. West African cuisine is really quite close but it’s a little bit different in terms of the spices we use and the way we cook.”
A 12 months in, Mané left the restaurant to organise his personal pop-ups and market stalls at venues throughout east and south east London, combining meals with dwell music.
In 2014, he selected to name his enterprise Little Baobab, impressed by the traditional towering bushes surrounding his household village of Joel Palmarin, the place he spent many college holidays as a toddler.
“You cannot imagine how many baobab trees we have there,” he says. “They remind me a lot of my upbringing. If you’re talking about culture and spirituality, it’s all linked with the baobab. Our elders are really connected with those trees. There’s so much mystery.”
For Mané, Little Baobab was by no means nearly meals.
As he grew up, his household dwelling was all the time open to others. “People would come from nowhere and my dad would have them inside the home,” he says. Looking again, he sees these acts of generosity as a basis for the environment he’s attempting to create now.
“My dad helped so many people and right now, I’m on the same path,” Mané says.
That power is mirrored in Little Baobab’s teranga evenings, the place visitors are inspired to hold round lengthy after ending their meals. Some keep seated, chatting over minty attaya, whereas others head upstairs to hear and sing alongside to the dwell music.
“Teranga is about sharing and putting people together,” says Mané. “I grew up with cousins, siblings and everyone at home having a great time. We’d all eat together and I’ll never forget that. With Little Baobab, I want to keep that. When people come, I want it to feel like home.”
The philosophy of sharing and connection extends past the restaurant itself. In autumn 2025, Little Baobab launched a free chef coaching programme for 18 to 30-year-olds.
The present cohort consists of 10 younger folks taught by Mané himself. He says it was essential to assist take away limitations for younger folks struggling to entry coaching or employment.
“Life is about opportunity,” says Mané. “I used to be of their place. I wish to assist them perceive, in the event you find it irresistible, come to me and we’ll construct collectively. Tomorrow, they are going to be capable to do the identical for another person. That’s how we develop.
“When we die, we leave everything behind. It’s sad to have a lot of knowledge and keep it for yourself. I don’t know much but what I do know, I share with these kids.”
Little Baobab will maintain teranga nights on 11 June, 9 July and 13 August. Bookings might be made by way of its website.