Maria Bradford is a master in creating unique dishes that come from her Sierra Leonean heritage. Having built up a reputation mainly through Instagram, she was ready to take a leap and realise her dream of launching her own restaurant brand and events company.

The best kind of project
We were tasked with launching a lifelong ambition. Turning a passion of food into a dynamic and colourful business and brand.

Put yourself in the brand
In fact, Maria is the brand – her energy, fascination for age-old African recipes, her creativity and freshness had to shine through. We needed to balance her heritage with her creative license to change and reimagine traditional ingredients. Packaging this experience for a broader audience.

A little bit fancy
As Maria enters this new chapter, a new name was needed for her brand. Shwen Shwen, Krio for ‘Fancy’, perfectly describes the Sierra Leonean inspired dishes created by Maria Bradford.

Warm and welcoming
We created a brand that transports you to another world. Where a new culture, traditions and exciting ingredients, recipes and dishes are waiting to be explored. The brand had to be inviting and warm and capture Maria’s colourful personality. We drew upon the raw energy of Sierra Leone and gave it a little twist. Just as Maria does with her cooking.

“Working with Curious on this project has been a truly enjoyable experience. Right from the beginning they captured the spirit and passion of what we do and have brought this to life in our new brand, communicating the vibrancy of the Sierra Leonean culture and the delicious food we create. It’s been wonderful.”

Maria Bradford
Chef and owner, Shwen Shwen