Callie White and Grace Oyediran await a special meal prepared by their sons.
Miles and Femi first became friends while working at the Charleston Grill, under sommelier Rick Rubel’s tutelage.
Grace Oyediran (left), visiting from Cincinnati, gets to know Miles’s mom, Callie (right), in her outdoor kitchen.
A glass of Alsatian riesling
Miles and Callie prepare dinner together at least once a week. Miles considers his mother a best friend and one of his biggest influences. She thinks of him as “a gentle, affectionate giant and the heart of the family.”
Though he moved away from Nigeria as a baby, Femi holds an affinity for the Yoruba dishes of his youth. He often seeks his mother’s cooking guidance over the phone. “She always seems to know what I’m about to ask,” he says.
Though their sons have been friends for more than a decade, Callie and Grace met for the first time this spring, when Grace traveled from Cincinnati to visit Femi and the wine shop.
A coalescing of flavors from Nigeria and India
Suya, peanut-dusted beef skewers
Efo riro, a Yoruba-style spinach stew
Cauliflower, spiced and roasted
Crispy fried okra
Basmati rice pilaf
Raita made with Greek yogurt
Rising star sommeliers Miles White and Femi Oyediran of Graft prepare Nigerian and Indian-inspired dishes for the women who raised them
