Restaurant Nuna Seeks Community Support for Competition
A mother-son team from Togo, West Africa, presented their restaurant Nuna to the city council Thursday, seeking community votes for an upcoming competition.
Siobhan Laban spoke on behalf of his mother, explaining their participation in the Hatchington competition's top 10 round scheduled for Aug. 6. The family-owned restaurant specializes in West African cuisine, with recipes passed down from Laban's grandmother who operated a restaurant in Togo.
If successful in the competition, the family plans to use potential winnings to open a West African takeout restaurant in Bloomington. Laban described the venture as offering "that home away from home feeling" for West African residents and introducing the broader community to West African culture through food.
The restaurant's menu would include traditional dishes such as fufu, jollof rice and chicken preparations. Laban noted the restaurant placed in the top three in last year's competition but did not win.
The presentation concluded with a request for community members to vote for Nuna in the Aug. 6 competition round.
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my mother would use that money to share her culinary journey with other people and open a takeout space in Bloomington
offering that home away from home feeling, not just for other West African people in our city, but for everyone to experience the culture that we have to offer.
on August 6th, we'll be participating in the top 10 competition.
we hope that after we participate on August 6th, you guys will vote for Nuna.
Source document
[0:10] restaurant is abington.
[0:14] Thank you.
[0:15] Hello everyone. My name is Siobhan
[0:16] Laban. I'm her son and as she already
[0:18] stated, she comes from Togo in West
[0:20] Africa. My mother grew up cooking in a
[0:23] restaurant with her grandmother and
[0:24] learned all these amazing and delicious
[0:26] recipes that I was very fortunate to
[0:27] grow up with in my family with my
[0:29] siblings. And um if we were to win the
[0:32] Hatchington competition, my mother would
[0:34] use that money to share her culinary
[0:36] journey with other people and open a
[0:38] takeout space in Bloomington, offering
[0:40] that home away from home feeling, not
[0:42] just for other West African people in
[0:43] our city, but for everyone to experience
[0:46] the culture that we have to offer. Um,
[0:49] there's going to be many different kinds
[0:50] of things you can get all the way from
[0:52] fufu to jalof rice to even chicken.
[0:55] Whatever you're feeling, my mother has
[0:56] it. Um, we're really excited to be
[0:58] sharing with you guys, but that's only
[0:59] if you vote for us. Um, on August 6th,
[1:03] we'll be participating in the top 10
[1:04] competition. Last year, we were really
[1:07] grateful to make it to top three, but we
[1:09] unfortunately didn't make it. But this
[1:11] year, we want to change that narrative.
[1:12] So, we hope that after we participate on
[1:14] August 6th, you guys will vote for Nuna.
[1:17] Make sure you vote for us. We'll be
[1:18] waiting for you.
[1:19] Please vote for us.
[1:21] She's ready to cook for you guys.
[1:23] Thank you.
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Community Business and Culinary Arts Promotion
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