Soul food

In the past, celebrity chef Kevin Abola was as famous for his extravagant designer
suits and flashy jewellery as he was for his cooking, but nowadays, it's his chain
of low-cost restaurants, Soul Kitchen, that people are talking about. Food writer
Polly Andrews interviews him at his London home.

P: ...

K: The thing people notice most is that I don't dress up for my TV shows like I
used to. But that's because I did it mainly to give myself confidence and I feel
much stronger now. Besides, my Nigerian grandmother rang me from Lagos to tell me
it was vulgar! So I've adopted a more casual look. I've got a horror of being
scruffy - I'll always want to look stylish, but hopefully I can manage to wear
rather more tasteful clothes in the future. I've definitely lost my taste for bling
jewellery and that's probably a lot to do with my work for Soul Kitchen.

P: ...

K: First of all, my grandmother, whom I mentioned before: she was the first person
to show me you can make fantastic food on a budget. She'd add a pinch of herbs or
spices and a tiny drop of something magic and the most ordinary food was suddenly
transformed! Secondly, my Muslim friend Deepak, whose influence has been
considerable. The Muslim community believe it's their duty to look after the poor,
so groups from the local mosque go out and give food to the homeless who sleep on
the Thames embankment. And what amazing food it is! Succulent, home-made curries
with rich deep flavours, warm soft fresh flat breads, creamy yoghurt... It
literally made me cry. I found seeing these people getting proper, tasty food,
which had been cooked with love and attention, a really moving experience. And this
is what Soul Kitchen is all about - bringing these nurturing qualities of food to
people on low incomes. The trouble with food charities is that they're concerned
with nutrition rather than taste, so the food tends to be a bit tasteless and
bland, even a bit unappetising. At Soul Kitchen, we use low-cost ingredients, but
we prepare them with a chef's expertise and we care about what we're doing. The
result is food that is appetising and comforting as well as healthy and nutritious.
We give away food to people who have nothing, but this is only possible because of
the money coming in from the low-cost restaurants, which are the business half of
the operation.

P: ...

K: Well, put it this way, there's always a queue of at least 50 people to get into
every restaurant as soon as it opens.