TikTok star taking Spanish food scene by storm

MADRID: At Madrid's new restaurant Pecados, the main attraction is not so much its fusion food as the young Ukrainian-born chef running it - a "Gen Z" social media star who shot to fame teaching recipes during the COVID pandemic.

Elias Dosunmu, 27, boasts 9.6 million followers on TikTok, nearly 5 million on YouTube and 2 million on Instagram, making him - in his words - "Spain's most followed gastronomy profile".

Dosunmu's rise exemplifies a new path to culinary stardom in the digital age.

Where once chefs attained fame through Michelin stars, content creators and food influencers can bypass elite cooking schools to gain prominence through staggering subscriber counts.

"I started uploading videos and one of the ideas that I always had in my mind ... was to open a restaurant. In the end, social networks have helped me to get here," he said.

Spain's viral chef Elias Dosunmu with over 20 million followers across all of his social media puts salt on dishes in his restaurant in Madrid, Spain. - REUTERS

Spain's viral chef Elias Dosunmu with over 20 million followers across all of his social media cooks in his restaurant in Madrid, Spain. - REUTERS

Born near Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and moving to Spain with his family at the age of 14, Dosunmu's heritage and upbringing are as eclectic as the menu at his restaurant.

He speaks Russian with his Spanish-Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, who also has Jewish and Polish ancestry, while he and his brother converse in Spanish.

While juggling a job at a fast food franchise with a degree in aerospace engineering, he was furloughed when COVID hit.

With research and the help of his partner, Dosunmu started making short recipe videos using techniques such as rapid-fire catchphrases, dynamic captions and loops, or seamless transitions from the end to the beginning.

The restaurant's target audience skews young, mirroring Dosunmu's online following.

Marcos Castellanos, 12, was in the restaurant eating with his parents, after having asked for a visit to Pecados (Sins) as a Christmas gift.

"I know Elias Dosunmu from YouTube and TikTok. I watch him because I like to cook and sometimes I use his recipes," he said.

Dosunmu's creations includes Ukrainian varenyky - dumplings inspired by his grandmother's recipe.

He puts his success down to a stubborn work ethic.

"I remember my mom used to tell me that our people are used to surviving - literally."