• Winner of the Basque Nobel Culinary World Prize Awarded 2022

• Winner of the Best Chef Rising Star Awarded 2021

• Founder of Fulani Kitchen Foundation / Executive Chef - Dine on a Mat

This winning Chef, born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone to first generation Sierra Leonean Fulani of Guinean descent. She is a modern day nomadic chef very much connected to the Fulani culture, customs and cuisine of the biggest Nomadic group in West and Central Africa. She grew up in a Fulani community and the culinary inspiration she sought out has propelled her onto the world scene. Like her ancestors, Chef Binta has traveled many countries, in her case to explore different cooking techniques, ingredients and ways of life.
At Dine on a Mat, Chef Binta combines her nomadic Fulani roots, classical training and love for rural life and nature, to create modern dishes whilst maintaining the simplicity and authenticity of Fulani culture. By recreating a traditional setting, discussing Fulani culture and serving ancient grains, indigenous spices and other exciting West-African ingredients, Chef Binta triggers all your senses and takes you to a whole new world. Her passion to share African nomadic cuisine is based on her experiences as a child growing up during the darkest period of Sierra Leonean history - the civil war. She experienced first hand how food brings people together and pulls down walls. 

Many times during the conflict no one could go out to buy food or food was simply not available. She saw neighbors from different backgrounds contribute, share and prepare meals together to make something out of nothing. The rice they could afford was filled with cockroaches which they had to hand pick, repeatedly wash and blend with bulgur in order to get enough to share for everyone. What she calls creating food for sustenance; learning to create totally new dishes with just a handful of ingredients, sharing and working together, was not only a life saving skill in a war zone, it has actually made her the chef She is today. Chef Binta presents herself as an ambassador for Fulani cuisine and she promotes fonio, an ancient super grain, traditionally grown and consumed in West Africa. Over the last couple of years, fonio, as a result of its similarity to quinoa, has gained more attention in international culinary circles. And rightfully so- it’s gluten free, extremely nutritious, requires minimal water to grow, has a shorter life cycle than its similar foods, is more disease and drought resilient and gives back more nutrients to the soil than other staple crops like rice and maize. This little grain might possibly be one of the answers to food security and climate challenges to come. Binta’s menu almost always features this super grain, fonio, as she continues to promote its value to her guests on the mat and through her Fulani Kitchen Foundation projects which partners with female farmers in the North of Ghana.