MOOSE JAW — The aroma of sizzling spices and savoury stews will soon fill the Town ‘N’ Country Mall as a new restaurant featuring Nigerian cuisine, the Coral Kitchen, announced its grand opening last weekend.
The announcement came after a formal ribbon cutting ceremony led by Rob Clark with the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce, and with attendance by a lively crowd eager to celebrate the latest accomplishment of owner and entrepreneur Temitope Adewumi on the morning of Jan. 25.
The announcement also marks the first time that the mall’s three food court spaces has been fully booked in approximately 15 years — a development that assistant property manager Jennilee Novak said was one of the first goals of the Pioneer Thinking Capital Corporation who assumed ownership of the mall on Jan. 12, 2024.
“My prayer is that this becomes the beginning of something amazing, not just for me, but for my African community, for Moose Jaw as a whole, and also… for the Town ‘N’ Country Mall,” Adewumi announced.
“For me, this place (the mall) represents a relaxing retail therapy,” she added, recalling the days of walking through the mall from Sears to Zellers since arriving in Moose Jaw around 15 years ago.
The restaurant complements another enterprise at the mall owned by Adewumi, the Coral Ethnic Market. The market was originally founded in 2016 on High Street West and moved to the mall location in February 2024.
All of Adewumi’s dishes are inspired by a mixture of family recipes and some creations of her own.
“I am very traditional when it comes to recipes,” she said. “I don’t like varying away too much from the foundational way of making it.”
Her dream of running her own business started back in the Canadian equivalent of Grade 9 in her former home in Nigeria.
“My home teacher taught us how to make fish rolls, so I went home and told my mom, ‘We’re going to make a lot of money,’” Adewumi recalled.
Her mother gave her around $5.00 worth of ingredients like flour, margarine, and mackerel, and she tried cooking for the first time in her life.
“We didn’t make millions, but I made enough money to buy candy,” she said with a smile. “Honestly, it was a good experience because I learned that I could use my hands to make something that I’m passionate about. Not only can people enjoy it, but I can earn a living from it.”
Adewumi now plans to start a rotating feature with dishes that showcase a new African country each month. In February, she plans to start with food from Ghana, which she playfully described as Nigeria’s “cousin.” The first signature dish will be banku, a popular Ghanian dish made from fermented corn and cassava dough served with a variety of sides like grilled fish or okra soup.
“Ghana is another country in West Africa (and they are) like our cousin,” she explained with a playful grin. “We fight and we make up very quickly. So, we’re going to showcase them for this (first) month.”
She described the restaurant as providing “the warmth of home.” “I want you to eat my food and remember grandma,” she said, reminiscing about her grandmother emerging from the kitchen with a home cooked meal.
“You should really come (down and visit) the mall,” she said in her concluding remarks. “There are so many stores opening up, and the more you come support us, the higher the likelihood of other entrepreneurs thinking, ‘Oh, I can also open a store down there.’ Before we know it, (the mall could) become that bustling centre of activities again.”
The Town ‘N’ Country Mall is located at 1235 Main Street North and is open Monday to Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
To place an order at the Coral Kitchen call 306-690-7423.
