Most chefs prefer to sit down to discuss their upcoming restaurant in the space itself. But Kwame Onwuachi isn’t most chefs. Instead, the national culinary icon insisted on talking while walking as he played a few rounds on D.C.’s East Potomac public golf course last week. Over the duration of his 5 p.m. tee time, the Top Chef star told Eater all about his anticipated return to D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront dining scene in September.

At his new Afro-Caribbean restaurant Dōgon (pronounced “Doh-gon”), opening at the foot of the 373-room Salamander Washington DC on Monday, September 9, Onwuachi pays homage to D.C.’s legendary land surveyor Benjamin Banneker and his ancestral ties to the Dōgon tribe. Onwuachi’s menu explores both his own Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole heritage and D.C.’s melting pot of cultures through a “West African lens.”

“Everything is meant to be shared,” says Onwuachi. “I’m taking inspiration from everything from Korean to Ethiopian [cuisines].”

While Dōgon won’t usually be open on Mondays, September 9 signifies the date when D.C. was formally named in 1791. Gold chain curtains surrounding the stunning, 200-seat dining room reference the mathematical device Banneker used to map out city lines (1330 Maryland Avenue SW).

Onwuachi is best known locally for his time at the Wharf InterContinental’s long-closed Kith/Kin, and Dōgon marks the celebrity chef and author’s second act inside a posh hotel along the scenic Potomac River.

“It’s so emotional to be back,” he admits, while sporting Dōgon’s new black-and-gold cap on the course. “There’s lots of memories here, good and bad — but there’s a homecoming feel at the same time, similar to when I went back to New York.”

He returned to his NY roots in 2022 with the blockbuster opening of Tatiana, a high-end ode to the Bronx carryouts of his youth. Long wait lists and accolades quickly ensued, with New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells giving the wildly successful Lincoln Center attraction a three-star review — and No. 1 title of the best restaurant in New York.

It was during his D.C. hiatus when he also fell in love with the game of golf; ever since his actor friend Adrian Homles — who plays Uncle Phil on Peacock’s modern-day TV series Bel-Air — took him to his first driving range, he was hooked. “It’s so serene — you’re in nature and can’t be on your phone,” he says. In between taking swings and bites of his “fucking good” $5 half-smoke from the course’s on-site cafe Potomac Grille, he adds: “This is the first time I’ve had work-life balance.”

The night before, he previewed Dōgon’s full menu for the first time during a private tasting with Salamander CEO Sheila Johnson. The duo’s fourth annual Family Reunion is this weekend at Salamander Middleburg, where 40 of his chef friends (plus surprise musicians) gather to celebrate diversity in the hospitality industry. He reveals he first met the billionaire businesswoman six years ago “very randomly,” after delivering a speech at a Bahamas wedding convention. “I was very candidly myself and cursing,” he recalls. “She was the only person who got up at the end, saying ‘You’re real. I like you.’”

Maybe it’s his newest outdoor hobby, or simply the culinary confidence that comes with more years in the kitchen, but the 34-year-old chef appears to be fully at ease and in control as he undertakes his next big project. After his first D.C. restaurant Shaw Bijou famously fizzled fast in 2016, the pressure was on to make Kith/Kin deliver at the Wharf (it did, of course, earning him the 2019 James Beard Award for Rising Chef and critical acclaim for his refined approach to jollof rice, oxtails, and curried goat).

“I just feel more mature and not so obsessive over it, unlike the last time when I was in the public eye. I was still a kid growing up,” he says, of opening his first restaurant at age 26. “This one is super special to me.”

He’s amassed a dream team of talent to debut Dōgon, which includes his former Kith/Kin chef Martel Stone and beverage director Derek Brown, the pioneering D.C. mixologist who founded Columbia Room.

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The vision for Dōgon predates Tatiana, going back four years ago when he was researching how big of an impact Banneker made on the nation’s capital. “I was like, ‘this is incredible.’ This Black man was hired by George-fucking-Washington — how good did he have to be at his job to be hired back then at the beginning of time?”

Banneker, a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, and urban planner, turned to the starry night sky as a geographical guide.

“D.C. wouldn’t even have a capital without West African science as we know it today. So why not tell the story? All the dishes are inspired by that,” he says.

As far as what Dōgon’s destination one will be, he always leaves that up to the guests; he didn’t anticipate Tatiana’s greatest hits to be its tender short rib pastrami suya or “bodega special” featuring a Cosmic Brownie. (Turns out, no one ended up ordering his hopeful signature: a hot pocket.)

“Honestly, I’m just trying to cook some good food — that’s always my goal,” he says.

Surrounded by swaying willows, views of DCA planes flying in, and sounds of squawking geese on the 18th hole, his randomly-matched golf partner of the day finally realized he was playing with a famous chef the entire time. “Holy shit, I just Googled you,” he says. “You’re the answer on today’s Washingtonian crossword puzzle.”

To which, Onwuachi quipped back: “I’m just an amateur golfer, man.”

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WASHINGTON – Drifting wildfire smoke will come close to the Washington D.C. region on Wednesday afternoon and could slightly impact some areas to the north with hazy skies.

“Wildfire smoke is working across northern Pennsylvania, getting into New York City this morning,” said FOX 5’s Tucker Barnes, “I don’t think that’ll make it down here, but it’ll be close. If you see a little haze later today, especially if you’re off to the north, that’s wildfire smoke.”

The smoke is from wildfires in parts of western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. The National Weather Service says the smoke is moving from north to south and could impact parts of Pennsylvania and New York for the next several days. No harmful impact to air quality is expected, they say.

Parts of our area were impacted by smoke and haze from wildfires burning across Canada and parts of the U.S. earlier this year and last summer, creating smokey conditions, closing or postponing some outdoor activities, and degrading air quality.

According to an interactive air quality map from the Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality index in the Baltimore and Washington area ranged from good to moderate on Wednesday.

August is National Black Business Month, when Black-owned businesses are celebrated, and leaders in D.C. are marking the occasion by visiting and highlighting entrepreneurs in the area.

“We’re recognizing Black-owned businesses,” said Nina Albert, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development. “It’s an opportunity for me to hear from folks and hear how it’s going.”

Albert went on a tour of small businesses Tuesday, shaking hands and talking with business owners in Southeast D.C.’s Congress Heights and Anacostia neighborhoods.

“You have a choice — you can buy from Amazon or you can go and explore what our community has to offer,” Albert said. “We want to make sure that entrepreneurs in this community have the support system that they need.”

One of the spots Albert stopped by was Sycamore & Oak, a shopping center in Congress Heights that has more than a dozen Black-owned businesses.

“This is brand new,” said business owner Le’Greg Harrison. “We’ve only been here for one year.”

Harrison’s store, “The Museum DC,” sells clothing and art.

“We have emerging entrepreneurs, and it’s their first time in a brick-and-mortar space,” Harrison said. “We’re all here learning and growing together.”

According to recent national figures, there are about 3 million Black-owned businesses across the United States, which employ 1.2 million people and generate $133 billion in total sales.

“Often we hear that small businesses are the backbone of the economy, but sometimes people don’t know how they can support those businesses,” said Rosemary Suggs-Evans, director of the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development.

Suggs-Evans was with Albert on Tuesday for the small business tour.

“Just going out to a business, going out to dinner or going shopping is a way not only to support a business but to support other businesses that contribute to that business,” said Suggs-Evans.

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