Rita Mensah.
A Lagos food vendor and founder. Self-taught. Cooking since 2019.
Rita Mensah runs Rheetah's Kitchen out of Lagos. She cooks jollof. She caters events. She started in 2019 and built a brand by 2021. She is self-taught.
It started at university.
Rita started cooking in 2019, while studying for a Finance degree at Ekiti State University. She cooked for friends.
The requests kept coming. What she made for people she cared about turned into orders.
A brand, in her mother's honour.
Rita launched Rheetah's Kitchen in 2021. Her late mother was a caterer and food vendor, and the way she fed people stayed with Rita.
She built the kitchen in her honour, and in her own love for food. For Rita, cooking is love, creativity, purpose, and legacy, on one plate.
Sold out three days at GTCO.
Selected as one of 204 vendors at the GTCO Food & Drink Festival 2026. The stand was complimentary. She sold out three days running.
The festival story →
A Guinness World Records cook-a-thon attempt.
Self-directed and community-powered. Food cooked on the day is shared with everyone there and donated to charity partners across Lagos, in honour of her mother.
Read more →"The kitchen is my safe space."
— Rita Mensah