Wazobia African/Caribbean Restaurant

Nigerian born Lara O. Adesuyi is a registered nurse by profession. But her native cuisine equals her passion for healing, as expressed through the carefully plated African food she serves at Wazobia.

“I decided to open a restaurant because I love cooking — and feeding is part of caring,” Adesuyi says of her new Stapleton eatery.

Some bites on the menu include meat pies, hand-sized savory dough pastries tucked with fragrant beef bits plus sides of of sweet fried plantains and jollof rice, a flavorful mix of vegetables and rice that is a classic dish in African and Caribbean cuisine.

Other standouts at the corner restaurant include tilapia or snapper, about one pound each, served whole with sauteed vegetables.

The name Wazobia refers to the main dialect of Nigeria. Adesuyi explains that the language’s name merges three separate dialects with three words: “wa,” “zo” and “bia.” The translation breaks down to “come, come, come.”

That’s exactly what Adesuyi hopes patrons will do to keep the borough’s only African sit-down restaurant alive.