Chef Kwame Onwuachi believes that every restaurant should have a story, because when it has a story, it has a soul. That mantra is evident at his much-lauded New York spot Tatiana, which is named for his sister and inspired by the diverse cuisines available in the neighborhoods of his youth in the New York City borough of The Bronx. And it carries through to Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi, which debuted September 9 in Washington, D.C.
Dōgon is named for the West African Dogon tribe and inspired by D.C. surveyor Benjamin Banneker, an Africa- American mathematician, astronomer and inventor who helped create the city’s boundaries. Banneker’s ancestry can be traced back to the Dogon tribe in Mali, which some anthropologists believe had advanced knowledge in science, math, and engineering dating back hundreds of years.
The 140-seat restaurant is located at the newly renovated Salamander hotel. An open kitchen anchors the space, and the dining room is joined by a lounge, bar, and private dining room, plus additional patio space as the seasons allow.
Dōgon was designed by Modellus Novus, the firm that previously collaborated with Onwuachi at Tatiana, and it’s bathed in hues of blue and lilac. Three recessed ceiling domes bring moonlight into the dining room, and low, candle-like lights and pendants are meant to evoke the sensation of a starlit sky.
The restaurant serves cuisine through a self-described Afro-Caribbean lens, drawing from Onwuachi’s Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and New Orleans Creole background. Dishes are made to share, and include small plates like carrot tigua with pickled onions, peanut crustacean stew and burnt carrots, and a piri piri salad with cucumber, toasted almonds, and avocado.
Larger plates include lobster escovitch with Scotch bonnet peppers, and grilled wagyu short rib with red stew jam, pickles, and baby greens. The menu is bookended by breads (coco bread with malted sorghum better and cornbread with spiced shiro butter) and two desserts: shaved ice and rum cake.
Dōgon’s chef de cuisine is Martel Stone, a North Philadelphia native who’s inspired by contemporary Black diaspora cuisine and previously worked with Onwuachi as the executive sous chef at Kith/Kin in D.C.
Onwuachi enlisted Derek Brown, who has run some of D.C.’s best bars over the past two decades, to create the cocktail program. The menu features several Black-owned brands and serves creative takes on classic cocktails. One standout drink is the Flower Pot Punch, which was invented by Black bartenders at the pre-Prohibition Hancock’s bar in D.C. Brown’s version calls for rum, fresh citrus juices, spiced pineapple syrup, and Cajun Grenadine.
Dōgon and Tatiana give Onwuachi a foothold in two culinarily diverse cities that played significant roles in his upbringing and career. He’s plenty busy with these two ambitious projects, but only time will tell where his path leads.
“New York is my home, and Washington, D.C., is my second home,” Onwuachi said. “They are two of the finest and most diverse places in the world, and my team and I are currently focused on running each location’s best restaurant. To that end, you must be committed to delivering excellence every day, as success creates high expectations. But success also brings opportunities, and I always keep an open mind on what’s next.”