Landmark Restaurants, Accra, Ghana

Landmark additions to Accra dining scene

The arrival of Landmark Restaurants' portfolio of inspired dining destinations has proved a welcome addition to the top tier of Accra’s flourishing food scene. Brasa restaurant, serving up straight-from-the fire, skewers, steaks and seafood, and patisserie and cafe MilkBox are already established favourites in the capital. Here the head chefs at each Labone eaterie reveal the secrets of their success.

Geisa Carneiro

Head chef at MilkBox

How did your passion for baking start?

I always loved baking and when I moved to London and started my catering course I felt this was what I want to do as a job. Since that I haven’t stopped. I studied philosophy and have a masters degree in journalism, but never worked in this areas.

Your cakes are handmade from scratch in the kitchen using the best quality ingredients. Can you tell us about the love that goes into making each one?

Yes, it is a real love. When I create the menu that is where the love starts. I always choose what I think I would like to buy and to see if I came to Milk Box as a customer. My nine-strong team know how strict I am about making and decorating each cake. I am there every day from 6am to organise and decorate all the cakes to send to Milk Box. Dedication is the real love when you are pastry chef.

Do you think there is art in the best patisserie creations?

Always! To be a pastry chef you have to be as artist too. You need to combine colour or decorations in each individual cake to make the customer desire it. I am very classical in my designs. I don’t go for ‘crazy’ decorations. I think the taste is more important in combination with a nice and simple decoration.

As well as baking for customers to the Milkbox store, you cater for special occasions such as birthdays and weddings. Can you tell us about some recent creations?

This is the first time I have made wedding cakes or any cakes with three tiers, but we do get requests at Milkbox. Together, as a team, we did two amazing cakes that made the whole team proud. We loved making it!

It seems you like to use natural ingredients as much as you can?

Yes, we do. For our ice creams everything is natural and fresh. We use locally sourced vanilla pods, which are amazing. The flavours come from local fresh fruits. .For our smoothies we use only fresh fruits and we always use the best suppliers. We cannot have fruits that are not top quality.

For our cakes we use local flour. I started off importing flour, but tried the local variety and really liked it. The flavours are all natural. Our Raspberry and White Chocolate Cake is made with fresh raspberries; our Banana and Walnut Cake contains fresh bananas, our Orange and Coconut Cake fresh oranges. This is what make our cakes different and taste so special.

Where do you find inspirations for the creations on the MilkBox menu?

As I am passionate about what I do, I am always researching (I love pastry books). Instagram is also good to see what people are doing out there and to think about what the MilkBox customers are looking for.

Creating what I have in my mind is not easy. It can take time. On occasions I will make a dessert two or three times before I get it just right.

Which desserts go down especially well at MilkBox?

Well, people in Accra love our Red Velvet, Devil’s Cake and Carrot Cake, which are among our ‘specials’ freshly made from Friday to Sunday. Our Passion Fruit Cheesecake is also a hugely popular dessert.

What do you like about pastry that you cannot find in other culinary fields?

Everything! Pastry is very different from main kitchen cooking and it requires a great deal of thought from the moment you begin making your dessert to the end. Starting from the weighing of every ingredient to the making and baking and decorating. I love all these steps.

Contact: Milbox, Ndabaningi Sithole Rd, Accra, Ghana Hours: 8am to 8pm every day. Call: 030 295 9339 Website: milkboxcafe.com Instagram: @milkboxcafe

MilkBox in Labone, Accra

Mario Barreto

Head chef Brasa Restaurant

Can you briefly tell me about your culinary career leading up to working at Brasa?

I started in London as a kitchen porter, but worked my way up to chef at some of the top steak restaurants in the city such as Goodman’s and Beast. Later I was invited to Accra to be executive chef for the launch of one of the capital’s biggest restaurants. I returned to London as head chef at [high-end London steakhouse] Zelmans Meats, then I got the call for Brasa.

Can you remember when your love of cooking began?

When I was 19, I was cooking at a construction site in Portugal for my uncle. He told me: “You should be a chef, your food is amazing.”

The open coal-fired grills at Brasa are a centrepoint. What do you think that adds to the dining experience?

Guests appreciate they can have a direct view of the kitchen and watch us chefs in action. I think it creates a certain trust and excitement. For me it is also important to be able to see my guests, watching them receiving their food and see them enjoy it as well.

What were you trying to achieve when you put the full menu together at Brasa?

It was important for me to create something that represents my many years working with quality meat, at the same time to satisfy the Ghanaian palettes and the flavours of this culture. I wmeeting point of European and African spices, creating a new innovative food experience here.

Do you have a favourite dish on the Brasa menu?

I have more than one. All of them have their own character to me. When I was putting them together, I felt connected to all of them. The dishes all share a link with each other. For example, the piri piri marinate is based on the juice from the chicken, and when I was making the chilli prawns, to add the extra flavour, I took away the heads and made a stock for the seafood pasta.

Your use what is branded as “the best black Angus beef since 1939” for your steaks. What else makes them so special?

One thing I have learned here is that adding my special spices to the steaks on the grill gives them an extra kick, helping you to enjoy the steak more. The fat, salt and pepper will be mixed with new spices, creating new flavours.

Among the steak cuts you offer is the ‘Picanha’ with a ‘fat cap’ left on top Brazilian-style. What does this offer flavour-wise?

There is a lot of flavour on the fat, even more than the actual of meat, when you combine both together, it provides extra to the experience. The combination is the key.

Can you tell us more about the Brasa in-house sauces?

One of them is a recipe made from a sauce from my home town in GuineaBissau. It is the base for the Brasa house sauce.

There is often live music or DJs to accompany brunch sessions and in the evening. With the grill so prominent do you often feel the chefs are performers too?

I always keep one eye on the guests. It has been many times that we end up dancing with the guests as well. You might witness one of my chefs ending up on the floor dancing with the guests, that’s the level of happiness and excitement you’ll see in my kitchen and at Brasa in general.

Contact: Brasa, The Edge by Devtraco Plus – Apartments, Ndabaningi Sithole Rd, Accra.

Hours: Monday to Wednesday; 12pm to 3.30pm lunch / 6pm – 11pm Thursday to Friday; 12pm to 3.30pm lunch / 6pm to 12am Saturday/Sunday; 10am to 4pm brunch / 6pm to 12am/11pm

Call: 030 295 9338 Website brasagh.com Instagram: @brasa.gh

Brasa is known for its steaks