Amara Okafor
Culinary Director
- Based
- London
- Works across
- 3 regions
- Languages
- English, French, Igbo
- Experience
- 18 years
Okafor runs culinary across a nine-site restaurant group and has opened in three markets in five years. Her particular skill is the unglamorous one: making a concept survive contact with a second and third site. She rebuilt a group's central production model to cut kitchen labour by 19% while raising the mystery-shopper score, and now sits on the group's investment committee.
“Anyone can open one restaurant. The second one is where you find out whether you had a concept or a lucky chef.”
Chef Score
Scored from verified history.
Seven axes, each built from confirmed employment, scope and references — not from self-assessment. The composite is the mean of the seven, shown for comparison rather than ranking.
91
/ 100
- Culinary
- 92
- Leadership
- 96
- F&B Management
- 93
- Cost Control
- 89
- Menu Development
- 91
- Pre-Opening
- 94
- Sustainability
- 84
Expertise
What Amara is brought in for.
Every tag here is a filter in the directory, so a business searching for exactly this work will find this profile.
Cuisines
- Modern European
- Mediterranean
- Levantine
Specialities
- Concept Development
- Menu Development
- Fine Dining
- Team Management
- Pre-Opening
- Training & Development
Positions
- Culinary Director
- Executive Chef
Available for
- Culinary Consulting
- Pre-Opening
- Brand Collaboration
- Masterclass
- TV & Media
Locations
- London
- Lagos
- Dubai
Services
Engage Amara directly.
Multi-Site Concept Audit
Assessment of whether a single-site concept can be replicated, and what has to change before it is.
from €11,000
Central Production Design
Production kitchen model, transfer pricing and site-level prep specification for groups scaling past three sites.
from €18,000
Culinary Leadership Programme
Six-month development track for head chefs stepping up to multi-site responsibility.
€2,400 / participant
Career
Where the score comes from.
- 2021
PresentCulinary Director
Harrow & Vine Restaurant Group
London, UK
9 sites across UK and UAE, £41m turnover
- 2017
2021Head Chef
The Ninth
London, UK
- 2014
2017Sous Chef
Nobu Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria
Recognition
- 2024Restaurant Group Leader of the YearCATEY Awards
- 2020One Michelin Star retainedMichelin Guide
What we confirmed
Harrow & Vine Restaurant Group
Culinary Director · 2021–Present
Position and scope confirmed with Group Operations Director
The Ninth
Head Chef · 2017–2021
Employment dates confirmed with owner
Employment is confirmed with the employer directly rather than with a contact supplied by the candidate, and qualifications with the awarding institution.
Work
Similar expertise
