Chef JohnPaul “JP” Arabome would like you to call him daddy.
“Goat Daddy,” to be specific.
The 38-year-old Van Nuys resident is the founder of The Peppered Goat, a new concept delivering West African cuisine to Southern California’s scattered Nigerian diaspora and other chivo-starved Angelenos.
The menu centers on asun, the Nigerian and Yoruba specialty of spicy roasted (traditionally smoked) goat meat that graces every worthy owa mbe (customary food-and-drink-fueled celebration).
Arabome spends a day-and-a-half preparing the dish for customers, who tend to be based in Nigerian expat strongholds including Hawthorne, Inglewood, and Van Nuys.