Ope Amosu turned a hobby into a thriving restaurant.
The London, England, native is a child of Nigerian immigrants who relocated to Houston, TX, and to him food is fellowship and also a gateway to community. It’s why he pivoted from the oil and gas industry — where he held roles at General Electric (GE) such as ChòpnBlọk,
“Food was one of those universal languages where we could cross many barriers to ultimately get a a super diverse, broad community and share with them who we are, where we come from, what we own, what we have provided. That’s really what the passion is about. Landing on food as the vehicle is what set me on this path,” Amosu told AFROTECH™ in an interview.
Non-Traditional Journey
Amosu’s journey to opening what became ChòpnBlọk was not typical. Similar to many entrepreneurs, his palate for good food was nurtured at home, with fond memories of occasionally cooking in the kitchen with his Nigerian-born grandmother. However, Amosu never formally attended culinary school. Instead, he temporarily moved to northeast Missouri to attend Truman State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing with plans to start a production company. Houston Food Finder notes that his undergraduate studies were supported by a football scholarship.
His first role out of college was as an account manager for Grimco Inc., a wholesale sign company, from 2010 to 2012. He then returned to Houston and attended Rice University, where he obtained an MBA. This degree served as his entryway into GE’s commercial leadership program by 2013.
His turning point followed after exploring Philadelphia, PA’s food scene, which sparked his calling to merge traditional cuisines from his upbringing with a modern twist. In January 2017, ChòpnBlọk’s concept materialized. Amosu maintained his role in the oil and gas industry for the next five years, bootstrapping the venture along the way. At its start, he applied and landed a role as a night cook at Mexican fast casual restaurant Chipotle. He learned about best practices for serving clients and how to build an operation to scales over a four-month period. His day included tasks such as preparing vegetables, washing dishes, and even cleaning bathrooms.
His background at GE was also helpful in his strategy to building a business. He credits his industry experience for being systematic and analytical in his approach and understanding the health of a business.
Amosu also leaned into support from West African home cooks, chefs, and family members, learning foundational recipes that he put his own twist on. Additionally, he interviewed several restaurateurs, chefs, and business owners. Then with a personal investment of $5,000 to $10,000, he launched a focus group masked as a private dining series in March 2018 that continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting with 20 individuals, it later scaled to popups at existing restaurants with 100 individuals. He used response cards to gather real-time feedback and facilitated discussions to better understand buyer behavior, asking questions about where they lived, how much they spent, and how often they dined out for lunch vs. dinner, etc.
“By the time you get to the finish line, it’s something that you’ve created alongside your audience,” he said.
ChòpnBlọk’s Expansion
In November 2021, ChòpnBlọk — a name that is an ode to his roots with Chòp meaning “to eat” in pidgin English and also referring to a butcher’s chopping block — opened its first location at POST Houston in a 670-square-foot food stall. Five months earlier, he had officially said his goodbyes to his 9-5, which paid off as the restaurant location attracted over 100,000 customers within its first year.
Additionally, the restaurant’s placement at POST Houston was supported through a round of funding via a convertible note in May 2021, raising $500,000. It took less than $100,000 to open at the location. By Oct. 1, 2024, Amosu was better positioned to secure funding, which led to the launch of ChòpnBlọk’s first brick-and-mortar, opening on Nigerian Independence Day.
“Good to have liquid cash on the books, because now with that cash, plus the revenue and profit that POST was generating for us, I was then able to take that performance sheet to the bank, and the bank lends money to people who have money. And then that’s how I was able to ultimately get the funding to create this, which was through the SBA, where we raised $1.2 million to get this off the ground,” he recalled.
ChòpnBlòk’s newest location at 507 Westheimer Road is a 3,000-square-foot establishment featuring a 70-seat dining room, a bar, and outdoor patio. The atmosphere is set with live music in the background and key design elements such as limewash walls by Republic Finishes to mimic African mud walls for an earthy feel, as well as an artwall/brag wall that highlights artwork, prints, and accessories from African diaspora artists, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
The restaurant features shoppable cookbooks and coffee table books by Black authors curated by Houston-based bookstore Kindred Stories — founded by Terri Hamm — as well as displays for ethically sourced, handmade African products.
Additionally, customers can take note of activations such as the restaurant’s Monday “SmallChops Socials,” accompanied by AfroVibes and R&B DJ sets from SlickVic (The DJ) and Troy Ezequiel.
Cuisine
As for its cuisine, the menu features a variety of offerings, including cocktails, wines, and other beverages, as well as appetizers like mini meat and veggie pies, plantain chips with Liberian greens, and the Polo Club Suya — marinated steak skewers paired with Yaji peanut pepper spice, which Amosu states “hits close to home.”
Staple dishes include the Buka Blọk Pairing, a personal favorite of Amosu, which accompanies steamed rice and beans served alongside a boneless short rib surrounded in West African red stew inspired by his childhood. The most popular menu item is the Golden bowl.
“That’s like the West African starter pack with the smoked jollof rice. Really speaking to how jollof is the precursor to southern jambalaya and bringing that whole relationship full circle with our motherland curry, the East African kola nut curry with the West African honey beans and then the plantains, the vegetables, the grilled chicken. That is definitely our most popular dish,” he mentioned.
Achievements
Amosu has come a long way from his bold transition in 2017. He has appeared on “Top Chef” and Marcus Samuelsson’s “No Passport Required,” attracted partnerships from organizations such as the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and is now a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best Chef: Texas category, as information on the James Beard Foundation reads. Yet, success for him will always center community.
“We want to meet people where they are and ultimately make our culture more accessible and build community along the way,” he said.
