The Story He Serves: Ayo Balogun on Food, Memory, and Finding His Way

As a kid, Ayo Balogun didn’t go into the kitchen for the food—he went for the stories. The cooks had lived lives he couldn’t imagine, and he wanted one of his own.

In this episode, we sit down with Ayo Balogun of Dept of Culture and Radio Kwara. We talk about his journey from his grandmother’s kitchen in Nigeria to his James Beard–nominated restaurant in Brooklyn—and the moments that shaped him along the way.

Read more about what we ate!

EPISODE CREDITS

Produced & Edited by Diane Bezucha

Music

• “Fela Kuti | Afrobeat Instrumental | Burna Boy-type Beat” by Amen Music
• “Traipsing through the Country” by GregFellman
• Old School West Coast type beat x 90s hip hop instrumental 'Ridin'
• “Nigerian Party” by u_98673jp944
• “Cooking Food Music” by BackgroundMusicForVideos
• “City Limits” by Blue Dot Sessions from the album Albany, NY 
• “Nigeria Pulse” by u_98673jp944
• “Too Good For Punk (positive funk)” by Kulakovka
• “African Background Music (Tribal Kongo Nigeria Tanzania)” by BackgroundMusicForVideos
• “Cast in Wicker” by Blue Dot Sessions from the album Aeronaut
• “Ethiopian Worldbeat” by soundoffreedom
• “Funk” by The_Mountain
• “Grey Grey Joe” by Blue Dot Sessions from the album TinyTiny Trio
• “Coronea” by Blue Dot Sessions from the album Marisala