When Maria Bradford told her friends and family she was opening a West African restaurant with a leaning towards that of Sierra Leone in the Kent town of Sevenoaks - and that she was going to pour her entire life savings into it, including re-mortgaging her house - she was warned off on the grounds that it was not a very diverse place. Thankfully she ignored them and thus Shwen Shwen, one of the most exciting restaurants to open in years, came into being.