Washington, D.C

Inside Celebrity Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Long-Awaited Return to D.C.

Published

1 year ago

August 14, 2024

Inside Celebrity Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Long-Awaited Return to D.C.

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.”

The “H Street” chicken and rice features Ethiopian berbere spices, jollof rice, and herbs.

Scott Suchman

“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.

Kith and Kin alum Martel Stone reunites with Kwame Onwuachi as chef de cuisine at Dōgon.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi and D.C. master mixologist Derek Brown team up for the first time.

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.”

Barbecue greens with candied Cipollini onions, roasted garlic and beef bacon.

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.

“Hoe crab” (plantain hoe cake, shitto “whatever,” aji verde).

Grilled wagyu short rib with red stew jam, “mad” pickles (banchan), and baby greens.

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.”

Rum cake with vanilla whip and charred fruit.

Carrot tigua (pickled onion, peanut crustacean stew, burnt carrots).

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Washington, D.C

Bruno Mars tour 2026 coming to DC region

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Bruno Mars tour 2026 coming to DC region

LANDOVER, Md. – Bruno Mars is bringing The Romantic Tour to the Washington, D.C. region this spring!

The Grammy-winning star will stop at Northwest Stadium on Saturday, May 2, 2026.

The stadium’s website lets fans sign up for presale access now. Tickets go on sale Thursday, January 15 at 12 p.m.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 02: Bruno Mars performs onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Bruno Mars – The Romantic Tour 2026 DatesApril – October 2026

Apr 10, 2026 – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

Apr 14, 2026 – State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ

Apr 18, 2026 – Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

Apr 22, 2026 – NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

Apr 25, 2026 – Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, Atlanta, GA

Apr 29, 2026 – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC

May 02, 2026 – Northwest Stadium, Landover, MD

May 06, 2026 – Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN

May 09, 2026 – Ford Field, Detroit, MI

May 13, 2026 – U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

May 16, 2026 – Soldier Field Stadium, Chicago, IL

May 20, 2026 – Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH

May 23, 2026 – Rogers Stadium, Toronto, ON

May 24, 2026 – Rogers Stadium, Toronto, ON

Jun 20, 2026 – Stade de France, Paris, FR

Jun 21, 2026 – Stade de France, Paris, FR

Jun 26, 2026 – Olympiastadion, Berlin, DE

Jul 04, 2026 – Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, NL

Jul 05, 2026 – Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, NL

Jul 10, 2026 – Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid, ES

Jul 14, 2026 – Stadio San Siro, Milan, IT

Jul 18, 2026 – Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, London, UK

Jul 19, 2026 – Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, London, UK

Aug 21, 2026 – Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

Aug 22, 2026 – Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

Aug 29, 2026 – Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA

Sep 01, 2026 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

Sep 05, 2026 – Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

Sep 09, 2026 – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Sep 12, 2026 – Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL

Sep 16, 2026 – Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA

Sep 19, 2026 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL

Sep 23, 2026 – Alamodome, San Antonio, TX

Sep 26, 2026 – Falcon Stadium, United States Air Force Academy, CO

Oct 02, 2026 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Oct 03, 2026 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Oct 10, 2026 – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Oct 14, 2026 – BC Place, Vancouver, BC

More information on the tour can be found online.

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Washington, D.C

‘Completely avoidable’: DC’s mayor reacts to ICE killing in Minneapolis

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

‘Completely avoidable’: DC’s mayor reacts to ICE killing in Minneapolis

D.C.’s mayor and interim police chief took questions on immigration enforcement after an ICE agent shot and killed an unarmed woman in Minneapolis.

“If we don’t want ICE in our communities, we have to stop funding ICE – and that decision isn’t made here; it’s made at the Congress,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

The mayor was asked about her reaction to the killing.

“To me, it just is reflected, when you have people who are unaccustomed to urban policing trying to police in an urban environment. What it looked to me like – very bad, and I’m not a police officer, I’m not in law enforcement – but what I saw was completely avoidable, and a woman died,” she said.

“ICE is patrolling American cities. If we don’t want that, the Congress has to stop funding ICE, because thousands of agents who are untrained to police in urban environments are on our streets,” Bowser added.

In two recent incidents in D.C., federal agents opened fire on drivers who the agents claimed were trying to hit them with their vehicles. In those cases, no one was injured.

Interim Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll was asked about public concerns that might happen here again.

“A lot of these individuals, they don’t work in urban policing. So, us working with federal authorities in the policing operations, being out there, actually helps us make sure that we can work in those areas to help control what’s going on,” he said.

“Obviously, I can’t assure you of anything. Obviously, I can assure you every situation is different, right, that officers encounter out there,” he added. “But I think having the relationship and having the federal authorities working with the officers does help to mitigate some of the challenges that we have with that.”

Nadeau’s report on DC cooperation with immigration enforcement

Departing D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau released a scathing report Thursday that’s critical of how MPD and the Bowser administration have cooperated with federal immigration enforcement.

“The primary finding is the loss of trust between the public and MPD,” she told News4. “The challenge that we’re finding is that the mayor and the chief’s interpretation of the Sanctuary Values Act has opened up a vulnerability whereby they are essentially cooperating with ICE in a manner that does not match with the intent of the law.”

Bowser declined to comment on the report.

Carroll said he has not decided whether to make any changes to MPD policies on cooperating with immigration enforcement.

Last month, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who oversees public safety, sent a letter to the then-chief requesting detailed answers to several questions related to MPD’s cooperation with federal law enforcement. Carroll said Thursday that he will provide a response, which is due to the council by Friday.

In this 4 More Context, News4’s Ted Oberg explains how many people in the D.C. area have been arrested by ICE and why.

Sign up for our free deep-dive newsletter, The 4Front, to get standout News4 stories sent right to your inbox. Subscribe here.

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Washington, D.C

DC weather: Dry, mild Thursday with highs in mid 50s; rainy start to weekend

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

DC weather: Dry, mild Thursday with highs in mid 50s; rainy start to weekend

WASHINGTON – A dry and mild Thursday is ahead for the Washington, D.C., region, with highs in the mid‑50s before a rainy start to the weekend.

What we know:

The morning begins on the chilly side with some patchy fog. FOX 5’s Taylor Grenda says conditions stay dry as temperatures climb into the afternoon, with clouds building by evening.

Rain showers may develop late Friday afternoon into the evening, with highs in the upper 50s.

What’s next:

Steadier rain moves in Saturday morning. Temperatures rise into the 60s, but on‑and‑off rain is expected through the afternoon and evening.

Sunday turns much drier, though highs fall back into the 50s. By Monday, colder air returns with highs in the 40s.

DC weather: Dry, mild Thursday with highs in mid 50s; rainy start to weekend

The Source: Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Weather Team and the National Weather Service.

WeatherNewsWashington, D.C.MarylandVirginia

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