Today we’d like to introduce you to Funmi Osatuyi.
Hi Funmi, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey has always been rooted in food, hospitality and the belief that African cuisine deserves to occupy beautiful, intentional spaces.
I am Chef Funmi, founder and Executive Chef of LagosChop Catering Canada Inc., a Calgary-based hospitality and catering company creating elevated African and Afro-fusion food experiences.
What started with cooking and catering gradually became much bigger than simply serving food. I became fascinated with the entire guest experience — how a room feels, how a dish is introduced, how people connect around a table, and how food can carry culture and memory while still feeling modern and luxurious.
Over the years, LagosChop has grown through private events, weddings, corporate catering, intimate dinners and collaborations. I also created Pasta Wednesday, a curated dining series where I use food, storytelling and community to bring people together around a table. Each edition allows me to experiment creatively while building the kind of hospitality company I ultimately want LagosChop to become.
Education has also been an important part of my journey. I studied culinary arts and later completed my Hospitality & Business Management education, because I realized that being talented in the kitchen was only one part of building a sustainable hospitality company. I wanted to understand operations, leadership, finance, guest experience and the business behind the food.
Today, I am still building. LagosChop is evolving beyond catering into a broader hospitality brand, while I continue developing concepts and products inspired by my Nigerian heritage. My goal is to create experiences that make African food feel familiar to those who grew up with it and exciting to people discovering it for the first time — without diluting where it comes from.
I think the biggest shift in my journey has been realizing that I am not simply building a catering company. I am building a hospitality brand, and food is the language I am using to do it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road, but I have learned not to romanticize the difficulty either. Entrepreneurship comes with very practical challenges.
One of the biggest has been learning how to build a business while still doing the work inside the business. As a founder, especially in the early stages, you can find yourself being the chef, salesperson, marketer, creative director, administrator, purchaser and event manager all at once. Eventually, you realize that working harder is not always the answer — you need systems, a team and a clear understanding of what actually moves the business forward.
Cash flow and growth have also required discipline. Hospitality can be expensive to operate, and there is often a significant gap between having a great creative idea and building the infrastructure required to execute it consistently and profitably. I have had to become much more intentional about pricing, contracts, staffing, operations and knowing when an opportunity is actually good for the business.
Another challenge has been positioning African cuisine within the kind of premium hospitality spaces I envision. I never wanted to believe that African food had to be presented casually to remain authentic. Part of my work has been showing that our flavours, ingredients and stories belong at weddings, corporate tables, intimate tasting dinners and luxury events just as naturally as any other cuisine.
I have also balanced building the company with continuing my education in hospitality and business. That season forced me to become much more disciplined about my time and much clearer about the kind of entrepreneur I want to become.
The challenges have changed me, but I would rather say they have made the business more intentional. I am still ambitious, but now I think much more about sustainability, structure and building something that can grow beyond me.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
LagosChop Catering Canada Inc. is a Calgary-based hospitality and catering company specializing in elevated Nigerian and Afro-fusion cuisine, luxury catering, private dining and curated food experiences.
At the heart of LagosChop is the belief that African food can be deeply rooted in culture while still being presented in a modern, refined and unexpected way. We take familiar Nigerian flavours and ingredients and reimagine how they can show up at weddings, corporate events, intimate dinners and special celebrations — without losing the soul of the food.
We are known for dishes such as our jollof rice, suya-inspired proteins, small chops and contemporary interpretations of Nigerian classics, but what truly sets us apart is our attention to the entire guest experience. For us, hospitality is not simply putting food on a table. It is the menu, presentation, storytelling, service, atmosphere and the feeling guests leave with.
One of the projects I am especially proud of is Pasta Wednesday, our curated dinner series. It began as an opportunity to experiment creatively with pasta and African flavours, but it has evolved into something much bigger — an intimate table where food, storytelling, culture and community meet. Each edition has its own concept and allows us to explore what modern African hospitality can look and feel like.
LagosChop is also expanding beyond traditional catering. We are developing food products inspired by flavours from my Nigerian upbringing, including Atadindin, our pepper sauce, while continuing to grow our private dining, event and experiential hospitality offerings.
What I want people to understand about LagosChop is that we are not trying to make African cuisine “acceptable” by removing what makes it African. The goal is the opposite: to preserve its identity, tell its stories confidently and give it the level of presentation, service and hospitality it deserves.
Ultimately, I am building LagosChop to become more than a catering company. I see it becoming a hospitality brand with food, products, experiences and spaces that introduce people to African culture through the table.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
There are so many, but one has stayed with me almost like a photograph in my mind.
My grandfather, may his soul rest in peace, used to take all of us grandchildren to his farm. I remember the excitement of going with him, seeing what he had grown and watching him check his traps. Then we would come back and prepare a meal from what the land had given us — freshly harvested yam made into pounded yam, egusi from his farm, and everything else incredibly fresh.
What I remember most is how he served it. He would arrange the food beautifully in a large mortar, call all the grandchildren to sit around it, and we would eat together.
At the time, it was simply a joyful day with my grandfather and my cousins. Looking back now, I realize how special it was: food straight from the land, prepared with care, and everyone gathered around one shared meal.
That memory has never left me. Perhaps that is also why the idea of bringing people together around a table means so much to me today. Food, for me, has always been about much more than eating — it is memory, family, culture and connection.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lagoschopcatering.ca
- Instagram: @lagoschopcatering
- LinkedIn: https://linktr.ee/lagoschop1
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lagoschopcateringyyc?si=A4Br-NgpK2AZT6ww
