Chaima African Cuisine

Words by Rachel Cain
Photos by Brooke Lehman

Chaima is chasing her dream: introducing West African spice to a Midwestern palate.

“Americans don’t know who we are as Africans besides what they see on T.V.,” Chaima says. “I want to inform my friends about who we are and what we eat.

”She says the unknown factor of trying new foods plays into everything, but that’s why it’s important that she relates to the Omaha community and establishes trust.

Growing up in Lomé, Togo, West Africa, Chaima (pronounced “shy-ma”) says cooking was an essential piece of her upbringing and culture.

“In Africa, 99.9% if not 100% of the women know how to cook–they learn from whoever cooks in the household,” says Chaima.

As early as age nine, Chaima remembers shadowing her “auntie”, and her dad’s chef after school. She’d scour magazines and books for recipes, creating her first dish–a crepe–from a recipe unearthed in the back of a dictionary.

Learning to cook was step one along the path that lead Chaima to her future as a restaurateur. She discovered her love for feeding a crowd during the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr, where her entire family would come together after long days of reading the Koran and sit down to a feast that she had proudly helped prepare.

Fast forward to 2002, when Chaima arrives in Omaha to be with her husband, Boubakar, who landed in Omaha three years prior. Upon settling into her new life, she immediately headed into her comfort zone–the kitchen–and began to cook for her husband’s friends.

“You instantly become a family with other people from Africa,” Chaima says.

“I want people to feel as though they are sitting in my living room, I’m cooking for them, and they are enjoying family and food,” she explains.

She often found herself playing host, cooking meal after meal, loving the great conversation and new ties with Omaha friends as a backdrop to her food. Eventually, people started asking her the same question:

“Why don’t you start a restaurant?”

Chaima didn’t take her friend’s questions to heart until her first maternity leave. After working jobs as a cashier and CNA, Chaima realized her life’s direction always brought her back to the kitchen: Her true passion was sharing and cooking West African food.

So Chaima began by finding a shared kitchen space, while also stepping into the Omaha food scene as the chef for a weekly event called, “African nights.”

After “saving, saving, saving,” she was able to open up her own restaurant, Chaima’s African Cuisine, in March of 2006.

Currently the only West African restaurant in Omaha, Chaima describes West African food as “a dish loaded with flavor that you can’t miss.” If you are visiting her restaurant for the first time, Chaima recommends trying the riz creole and plantains as a few of her most popular dishes.

Chaima said she’s constantly running into hurdles, barriers and the “odd questions” that come with serving a lesser-known cuisine. But her restaurant also offers the opportunity for Chaima to bring people together and learn more about her culture.

Chaima says curiosity is frequently a factor that brings people into her restaurant. She’s known to pull a chair up to the tables in her restaurant, and engage customers in meaningful conversation.

“I want people to feel as though they are sitting in my living room, I’m cooking for them, and they are enjoying family and food,” she explains.

Her recipe for good conversation?

“Being loving and open, that’s a spice you should always carry with you. Don’t let the word Africa scare you or keep you away from making the discovery of the beautiful dishes we cook here,” says Chaima, “It’s always cooked with love.”

Rachel Cain is a writer and editor based in Omaha, NE.

Brooke Lehman is the owner of Dwell Dinners and is based in Omaha, NE.