About CAPA

Brief History

The Culinary Arts Practitioners Association (CAPA) has existed since 2015, to strengthen and promote association among allpractitioners in the culinary and hospitality industry. It was created by Chef Tiyan Alile, the founding President, the founding Vice President, Chef Fregz.

Vision

To foster a network of Chefs, Culinarians, and Hospitality professionals for the advancement of the culinary and hospitality industry in Nigeria

Mission

CAPA is a registered non-governmental organization dedicated to raising the standards and awareness of food, culinary and pastry arts cooking, and the hospitality industry in compliance with global best practices. We will accomplish our goals through education, training, advocacy, and the development of our members.

Our Core Values

Unity
Discipline
Courage
Accountability
Professionalism

Our Statement

“We love the Art of food, we create bonds and friendship with food, we unite the world with food”

Founding Members____________________________________________________________

Tiyan Alile,

Founding Vice President.

Chef Tiyan Alile is a seasoned celebrity chef and restaurateur, with a progressive culinary career spanning almost 3-decades. Her journey into the fine art of culinary began in 1993, building on her kitchen experiences with her mother, making cakes and barbecue grills. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in law from the Premier University of Ibadan, she was called to Bar in 2001 and began her career in business law, spanning a decade. Being an ever-ambitious individual, she decided to give in to her dreams and professionally pursue her culinary passion. She went back to school in 2012 to hone her skills and trained abroad at the L’Academie de Cuisine in Advanced culinary arts,

Restaurant, Culinary and Catering Management. On returning to Nigeria, she established Culinary Academy, a pioneer indigenous culinary

institution, situated in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. A few of her restaurant endeavors include; a grill at the Ibadan Golf Club and a Modernized Nigerian restaurant, Tarragon, a fine dining restaurant and wine club, which she founded and held the position of Executive Chef. She has also been involved in planning several events within the hospitality space, most notably amongst which include; the GTBank Food and Drink Fair, The Mzansi Culinary Festival and delivering masterclasses at the Fiesta of Flavours Food Fair.

Chef Tiyan is extremely passionate about culinary art excelling in the area of talent grooming. Testament to this, one of the exports from her Culinary Academy participated in the2016 Young Chef Olympiad in India. She has equally held master-classes at the Central Johannesburg College and partnered with other top chefs to teach at the 2016 edition of the GTB Food and Drink Fair. In 2017,she launched her "brainchild" project, the African Young Chefs Competition (AYCC), a platform for young African chefs with a focus on African indigenous cuisine on an international scale.

She is the founding President of The Culinary Arts Practitioners Association (CAPA) in Nigeria, a body which she founded, to promote the culinary profession. In recognition of her various efforts, contribution and impact in the culinary domain, she has earned several awards, including; the Luxury Travel Guide Best Restaurant awards, World Luxury Restaurant Award for fine dining and food presentation and the World Chefs Global Connect.

Gbubemi Fregene

Founding Vice President

Gbubemi Fregene, popularlyknown as "Chef Fregz" is acelebrity chef of Nigeriandescent, he was born inAbeokuta, but spent hisformative years in Benin city.He garnered mainstream appealas one of the pioneers behind thecook-out culture we have cometo know, and he was able tosuccessful niche out himself inthe high-end and luxury culinaryspace. He is the pioneer VicePresident of The Culinary ArtsPractitioners Association (CAPA)in Nigeria.He studied Industrial relationsand human resourcemanagement at CovenantUniversity, before leavingNigerian in early 2010 to study atLe Cordon Bleu Culinary Institutein Paris, France, earning aDiploma in Cuisine. At theinstitute, he learned classicalFrench cooking techniques whilealso experiencing diverse culturalinfluences from differentcountries. After completing hisstudies at Le Cordon Bleu, heworked as an intern at the MarketRestaurant, Paris from November2010 till February 2011, where hewas retained upon completion ofhis internship period.Chef Fregz returned to Nigeriaand built his brand focusing onattracting Nigerian youths byappealing to their passion for adifferent taste pallet and creativecooking. To meet the needs ofyoung chefs to communicate andconnect with the upwardlymobile crowd that he serviced; hepromoted his brand by hostingregularly summer style cookoutscalled Chef Fregz Special. He hasalso featured as a judge in KnorrTaste Quest, a cookingcompetition organized byUnilever Nigeria, under its Knorrbrand

National Excos______________________________________________

Rukayat Momoh

President

Chef Rukayat Momoh popularly known as Chef ‘Giggles’is the executive chef and owner of Giggles Culinary Place, an outfit that consists of a culinary school and offers bespoke fine-dining catering services. On her journey to becoming, she started exercising her passion for baking from the tender age of 13.Before the commencement of her professional career, she obtained a Diploma in Education and a Bachelors's in Zoology. In the pursuit of her passion professionally, she obtained a Diploma in Culinary Arts, is acertified food safety professional and was opportune to train under the tutelage of the renowned Chef Tiyan and Chef Fregz.Her career in the hospitality industry spans over a decade, with 6-years of food styling experience and 7-years of culinary teaching experience locally and internationally. She has styled for various food commer-cials, hosted cooking shows, restaurants pop-ups, food com-petitions and consulted for Restaurants too. She is passionate about teaching culinary art, a huge promoter of Afrofusion Cuisine and is the current president of CAPA(Culinary Arts Practitioners Association of Nigeria).

Gbolabo Adekanbi

Vice President

Gbolabo Gibbs is an experienced Chef and culinary practitioner with core expertise in restaurant development and innovations, menu sampling and development, staff recruitment, operational structure and SOP implementation. Gibbs is a Highly motivated, energetic, and career-driven professional with over 7 years of experience in domestic and international Hospitality management, driving market share, revenue, and profit growth, starting new ventures and turning around struggling businesses including managerial experience and Hospitality support. As a Consultant and restauranteur, he has been charged with providing growth programs and frameworks to several institutions and individuals in the industry. He’s always looking forward to challenging himself and taking on new and bigger roles to refresh, challenge and develop his skills and develop other establishments, Overseeing Business strategy and Conceptualization. Gibbs has also excelled in the Performing arts space, with years of professional singing and acting. He has a strong background in opera, Jazz, stage, negro-spiritual, gospel and Contemporary Music, featuring in productions at the renowned Arena, TerraKulture, National Theatre, Muson, and the Main Auditorium, University of Lagos and also the producer of Bistro at The Theatre, a Musical Theatre showcase that serves as a platform to support young performing artists in Nigeria. Gibbs is the current General Manager for S A B O R, a casual dining restaurant at the heart of Victoria-Island Lagos. He is also the Vice-President and Director of Operations for Feed the Kids Initiative an NGO managing the welfare of children in Nigeria. He was recently appointed Vice President of the Culinary Arts Practitioners Association Nigeria (CAPA). Gbolabo Gibbs Began his professional career as a Coffee Barista and Sales Exec. at the first-ever dedicated Coffee Store in Lagos Nigeria, Cafe Neo after which he got promoted to the Head office, Kaizen Ventures Partners to join the Finance Team as a Training Consultant, where he developed and implemented concepts and strategies to increase results for Field Executives he has since then worked in more managerial roles in the Hospitality Sector with institutions like; Golden Palm Hotel Lekki, and Cookie Jar Bakery, where he led a highly motivated team in the sales and Marketing Unit and Clientele services unit, and then going on to manage the outdoor catering and Event services unit. His most memorable job experience was joining the pioneering team of Film House Cinemas IMAX to establish the first of its kind Cinema in West Africa, as the Food Manager. After 5 years in the employment space, Gibbs Finally registered his company, providing culinary and consultancy services to some prominent names and private businesses in the industry. He is an Old Boy of the prestigious Kings College Lagos and has a B.Sc. Zoology from the University Of Lagos Gibbs has also undergone Certification Courses at the West Africa Vocational Academy and the Umami Center for Culinary Arts. Gbolabo Gibbs recently crowned his achievements as he earned the bragging rights at the Unilever Nigeria Plc. cooking show, winning the title of Knorr Taste Quest 5 Ultimate Chef and brand ambassador for the Knorr brand. Gbolabo Gibbs is active in Ministry, volunteering and the development of the Nigerian youth. He believes that everyone has dreams and should not give up until they are achieved.

Chef Kelechi Okorie

Secretary

Chef Kelechi Okorie was born in the heart of Lagos on the 6th July. He is a graduate from the University of Port Harcourt with a bachelor degree in Agriculture. Chef Kelechi is an exceptional chef with over half a decade experience as a cuisine chef.

He has an intrepid skills with a superb understanding of different cooking techniques. he has a vast experience in bespoke dining, large and small catering services, cooked for well known celebrities and religious leaders and has also trained a lot of students who are doing exceptionally well in the hospitality industry.

Emike Igwonobe

Head of Communications

Emike Igwonobe, professionally known as Chef Koks, is a distinguished culinary expert. Having earned a Diploma in Culinary Arts and Pastry from the prestigious Culinary Academy Ikoyi, where she earned the award for the best overall graduating culinary and pastry student. Her passion for culinary excellence and dedication to her craft were further highlighted when she emerged as the winner of the fiercely contested 3rd edition of Baileys Bake Fest, judged by renowned culinary professionals, including Chef Stone and Chef Alex.

A graduate of International Relations from Covenant University, Her professional trajectory includes significant roles in various sectors. Notably, she served as the Admin Manager at Realms Consulting, a health tech firm, where she showcased her administrative prowess. Her culinary expertise was honed through experiences at Taragon, The Wheatbaker Hotel, and Eric Kayser. Her unique blend of administrative and culinary skills came to the fore during her tenure as the Head of Administration and Chef-instructor at Bishaw Academy.

Emike is not only an accomplished culinary professional but also an influential figure in the food industry. As the current Head of Communications of the Culinary Arts Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAPA), she continues to contribute to the growth and development of culinary arts in the country. Her multifaceted career includes running a boutique consulting firm and pastry business under the Chef Koks brand, alongside hosting luxury private dining experiences.

Chef Koks brings a wealth of expertise and a passion for culinary innovation to our executive team, ensuring a dynamic and visionary leadership approach in our endeavours.

Sadiya Halima

Head of Communications

Jubril Sadiya halima (Chef Halima) is a professional Chef that specializes in Afrocentric cuisines. She is the current deputy head of communication at the culinary arts practitioners association (CAPA) Chef Halima began her culinary journey at the renowned giggles culinary place and since then has upscaled to become a chef who is very passionate about infusing not just flavors but also cooking techniques and methods from different parts of the world into Nigerian cuisines Emerging the winner of thatnaijaflavor has greatly impacted in her ability to build flavors with the most basic ingredients. She currently works as a private chef and has successfully planned and executed pop up restaurants with many more to come. She is the founder and CEO of Homechefs.ng

A luxury private/Catering Chef service that specializes in bespoke catering and upscale on and off premises dinning

Her major focus is currently promoting and telling tales of northern cuisine through culinary education