Akụkọ anyị · Our story

From Owerri,
with the pot still hot.

Imo State to Alberta. A grandmother's recipes, a small kitchen, and a stubborn refusal to cut corners.

The place

Ala Owerri means “the land of Owerri”

Owerri is the capital of Imo State, in the south-east of Nigeria. It is Igbo country: red earth, palm trees, markets that start before dawn. It is also, by fairly stubborn local consensus, the best place to eat in the whole country.

The reason is a soup. Ofe Owerri is not something you throw together. It asks for okazi and ugu leaves, cocoyam to thicken it, palm oil, stockfish, dried fish, assorted meat and time. Nothing in it is a substitute for anything else. That is why people call it the jewel of the South East, and why nobody cooks it on a Tuesday for no reason.

We named the kitchen after the place because the place is the promise. If you have eaten in Owerri, you already know what this food should taste like. Our job is to not disappoint you.

Ndị anyị · The people

A small kitchen, and she is in it every day

Chef Uchechi, founder and head chef of Ala-Owerri Kitchen
Chef Uchechi, founder and head cook. Every soup on the menu is hers.

Chef Uchechi

She learned in her grandmother's kitchen in Owerri, where the soup pot was never small, nobody measured anything, and you were judged on whether the palm oil had been given enough time. Fifteen years of professional cooking later, she still cooks the way she was taught.

When she moved to Alberta in 2020 she could not find the food she grew up on. So she cooked it herself, for her family, then for neighbours, then for neighbours of neighbours. The orders did not stop, and Ala-Owerri Kitchen is what they became.

From
Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
Trained
Her grandmother's kitchen, then fifteen years of professional cooking
In Alberta since
2020
Cooks personally
Every soup on the menu, including all of the Ofe Owerri
Will not do
Substitute the leaf, skip the stockfish, or hurry the cocoyam
Cooking is my love language. When people taste my food, I want them to feel the warmth and hospitality of a Nigerian home.
Chef Uchechi's signature
The kitchen

How the work is divided

The soups are the chef's alone, start to finish, because they are the reason the kitchen exists and the thing that cannot be delegated. Rice, grills and prep run alongside them, and every order is cooked after it is placed rather than held under a lamp. That is why we ask you for an hour.

Where we cook

A kitchen, not a dining room

We cook from a licensed kitchen in Airdrie for pickup and delivery. There are no tables, which lets us spend on ingredients what a restaurant spends on chairs. You are welcome to collect in person; just do not expect to sit down.

Join us

We are always looking for a good cook

If you grew up cooking Igbo or Nigerian food and you are in the Calgary area, we would like to hear from you. Send a note to info@alaowerri.com and tell us what you cook best.

How we cook

Four things we won't compromise on

From scratch, every time

No soup base, no shortcuts. Egusi is ground here, yaji is blended here, stock is made from bones and time.

Cooked after you order

Nothing sits under a lamp. That is why we ask for an hour, and why it arrives tasting like someone made it for you.

The real ingredients

Okazi, uziza, ogiri, stockfish, ede. We source specialty items directly rather than swapping in whatever is nearby.

Your heat, not ours

Nigerian food is properly spiced. Tell us mild, medium or hot and we cook to your mouth, not our habit.

If it's your first time

You cannot order wrong

Nigerian food can look unfamiliar on a menu. Here is the short version. A soup is not a starter, it is the main event: thick, rich, full of meat and fish. You eat it with a swallow — a soft dough of yam, cassava or semolina. You pinch a piece, dip it, and swallow. No cutlery, no chewing, no ceremony.

If that sounds like a lot for a first visit, start with jollof rice. It is smoky, savoury, familiar in shape and utterly addictive, and it comes with a protein and a side. Then come back for the soup.

Start with the menu Meet Ofe Owerri

Come and eat.

Pickup in Airdrie or delivery across north Calgary. Most orders are ready in about an hour.

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