New café Thy Grace wows customers with unique menu

A NEW café in Tallaght is dishing up a tasty double-serving of Irish and traditional African food, all of which is cooked fresh daily on site by owner Yemi Akintokun.

Moving to Ireland from Nigeria in 2000, Yemi studied professional cookery in the Dublin Institute of Technology, spending the past eight years working in various kitchens and establishing her own catering company.

Last May, Yemi, who featured in TV3’s This is Jobstown, opened a café called Thy Grace on Kilclare Drive, which serves up a fresh selection of Irish dishes and traditional African dishes – which she prepares on site each day and can be eaten-in or taking away.

Yemi, who runs the café and prepares all of the food by herself, told The Echo: “At the moment it is just me, but I am hoping to grow the business and employ somebody soon.

“It is pretty tough at the minute because I am doing everything but I love having my own place, so all of the hard work is worth it.

“I am starting to build up my customer base and I would encourage more people to pop in and see what’s on offer.”

She added: “My whole café is about giving people a taste of home away from home for very reasonable prices.

“I cook everything on-site, fresh, every day . . . with dishes made to order.

“Here in Dublin we have lots of different types of food like Chinese and Indian, but not so much African – which has some very tasty, healthy dishes that are made from fresh ingredients.”

On the menu, Yemi has a wide variety of dishes including homemade soup, roast chicken with mash and veg, sausages and chips, breakfast rolls, tantalising barbecue chicken, traditional African rice dishes and tea, coffee and scones.

The catering entrepreneur also has her own secret recipe Wow sauce and chips and Wow sauce and rice, with Yemi recently receiving an Enterprise Ireland grant to develop her Wow sauce for the retail market.

Friendly and welcoming, Yemi also caters for parties and events and can be contacted through the ThyGrace Yemi’s Kitchen Facebook page or by calling 087 9337426.

Thy Grace opens from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.