Selassie Atadika is a Ghanaian chef, award-winning chocolatier, and visionary advocate for sustainability, biodiversity, and culinary heritage. She is also a culinary creative and the founder of Midunu, a nomadic dining concept and lifestyle brand based in Accra, Ghana.
Her work is at the intersection of food, culture, and sustainability. It strongly focuses on reimagining African cuisine for modern life while preserving its indigenous roots.
The journey to the ‘New African Cuisine’
Before entering the culinary world, Selassie Atadika worked for the United Nations for over a decade. She was part of the UN’s humanitarian response team, serving in conflict and post-conflict zones, including Liberia, South Sudan, and Darfur.
Her geography and international affairs background, with degrees from Columbia University and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, has equipped her to understand food systems, migration, and resilience.
In 2010, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating, she became a founding member of Trio Toque, the first nomadic restaurant in Dakar, Senegal. This experience became the foundation for Midunu, a nomadic restaurant which she launched in Accra in 2014.
The nomadic restaurant – Midunu
A nomadic restaurant is a concept characterised by mobility, unique locations, and unconventional settings without a fixed physical space. It typically moves from place to place or is set up temporarily in natural or unusual environments to create immersive and intimate dining experiences.
Midunu adheres to this nomadic model, initially operating as a pop-up dining experience that hosts meals in gardens, courtyards, rooftops, and other unconventional spaces. It has since developed into Midunu House, a permanent establishment in Tesano, Accra, comprising a kitchen studio, event space, and garden.
Atadika’s cooking philosophy, New African Cuisine, emphasises plant-forward meals made with traditional African ingredients. She employs ancient grains such as fonio, millet, and sorghum, incorporating local superfoods like moringa, baobab, hibiscus, and prekese. Her dishes are crafted to reflect Africa’s nomadic heritage, regional diversity, and indigenous knowledge, while adhering to global sustainability concerns.
In addition to her culinary work, Selassie Atadika is the founder of Midunu Chocolates, a premium line of handcrafted truffles made from Ghanaian cocoa and infused with local ingredients such as suya spice, lemongrass, rooibos, and calabash nutmeg. Each chocolate is named after an African woman as a tribute to the role of women in preserving culinary heritage across the continent. An all-female team in Accra produces the chocolates, and the brand is currently developing plans for wider distribution across Africa, the US, and Europe.
Impact and recognition
Atadika’s work has earned her international recognition. The Culinary Institute of America and the EAT Foundation named her one of the Global Top 50 Plant-Forward Chefs. She is also a Stone Barns Exchange Fellow and was a finalist for the Basque Culinary World Prize in 2019, honouring chefs who use food for social change. Selassie Atadika has been featured by CNN African Voices, National Geographic, Vogue, Bon Appétit, Ebony, and Bloomberg.
