Chef Kwame Onwuachi Opens An Afro-Caribbean Restaurant In Washington DC, Honoring A Black Mathematician And Astronomer

Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi’s new restaurant is honoring a Black mathematician.

The Nigerian-American restaurateur, raised in New York City, NY, opened Dōgon on Sept. 9, 2024, inside luxury hotel Salamander Washington DC. The fine-dining establishment’s design honors Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician and astronomer who primarily taught himself by watching the stars and studying math textbooks while on his family’s 100-acre farm in Baltimore, MD, according to the Library of Congress.

In 1752, Banneker gained recognition for reportedly creating the first all-wood clock in American history. Nearly four decades later, he was among the individuals responsible for designing and surveying Washington, DC, including choosing the sites of the U.S. Capitol building and the White House, among others.

Not only was the new restaurant’s grand opening date chosen to commemorate when DC was officially named in 1791, Onwuachi also pays homage to Banneker’s West African Dogon tribe lineage through his cuisine.

“What you’re going to see is just the whole history of Washington, D.C., its art, and how we’ve been able to collaborate in bringing the culinary, the architectural, and just the art storytelling of Washington, D.C., there,” said Sheila Johnson, co-founder of BET and founder and CEO of the Salamander Collection, according to The Washington Post.

Dōgon’s arrival is generating great buzz. The restaurant is expected to focus on an Afro-Caribbean theme, incorporating Onwuachi’s own rich heritage of Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole roots. Kith and Kin alum Martel Stone will also join Onwuachi as his chef de cuisine, also known as executive chef, per The Post.

Dishes will include lobster escovitch, roasted chicken and jollof rice, and grilled Wagyu short rib made with red stew jam, the restaurant’s website lists.

“People are going to be talking about the flavors that come out of every single one of his dishes from now to eternity,” Johnson commented to the outlet.

In response to the restaurant’s menu items, Onwuachi shared that he’s excited to contribute to the Afro-Caribbean movement. “With the boom of lots of Afro-Caribbean restaurants having the spotlight, it’ll just help add to that,” the 34-year-old celebrity chef said.