Meet Blessing

Nigerian born Canadian Onyinyechukwu Blessing Okpala; a self acclaimed foodie and fusion specialist oftentimes dreams in colors and recipes. Onyinye who is fondly called “Blessing” by her loved ones was born and raised in metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria where her passion for cooking emanated from observing her Mother’s extraordinary culinary skills.

She vividly recalls the excitement of visiting the colorful and fragrant fresh seafood and spice markets with her Mother on most weekends. She would thereafter sit with her Mother in the kitchen as other kids played, watching with rapt attention as her mum created numerous mouth-watering dishes. There was a certain joy my mom exuded as she chopped, sliced, whisked, stirred, pounded, sautéed, fried and so on. But beyond that, she inspired my passion for good food. Food was love for her.

Blessing’s childhood experiences would leave an imprint on her heart and spark a deep passion to recreate and share this experience of enjoying home-made wholesome foods with friends and family as she immigrated to Canada to further her education at the University of Toronto. She quickly realized as she had the opportunity to experience so many different nationalities in Toronto and through extensive vacation travel to South America, Middle East, Europe and other parts of Africa that cultures around the world have so many commonalities especially around food.

After years of hosting and cooking for private events for friends and family, Blessing formally launched 511kitchenamour; a private hosting and pop-up event curating outfit in 2017. She remains vested in the creation of unique and healthy recipes, fusing African and Canadian ingredients to create her signature dishes.

The fusion of cultures in the healthy meals she creates is the heart of what 511kitchenamour represents. Bringing people of various backgrounds and ethnicities together, filling spaces with floating conversations, boisterous laughter, happy bellies and LOVE.

Have a question, ideas or suggestions? I’d absolutely LOVE to hear from you! Check out this page to contact me and I will get back to you as soon as I can

Love, Onyi Blessing

Contact

(416) 319-0195

chefb@511kitchenamour.com

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