Dept. of Culture
West African restaurant · Bedford-Stuyvesant ·
Nigerian tasting menu with communal table, chef stories, BYOB
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72021456/WA_JAN23__1_.0.png "Dept. of Culture by Photos: Teranga, Dept of Culture, Nok by Alara | Illustration: Eater")
Nigerian tasting menu with communal table, chef stories, BYOB
"At this Bed-Stuy restaurant, you get an $85 four-course meal inspired by the owner’s upbringing in Nigeria, and you sit around a communal table. Just as you would for any dinner party, bring some of your favorite bottles from home. Over in Clinton Hill, a la carte sister restaurant Radio Kwara has a $20 corkage fee, so stop by the next door wine shop if you're headed there for butter-soaked bread ati obe with marinated mushrooms and charred octopus suya." - molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah
"Eating at Dept. of Culture, a Nigerian restaurant that serves a $85, four-course meal, is one of the best nights out you can have in Bed-Stuy. Turns out, sitting at the communal table, drinking (complimentary) white wine out of tiny Ikea glasses, and talking to strangers might be the best way to do a tasting menu. Between each course of regional specialties from Kwara, the chef will tell stories about his personal connection to the spicy pepper soup or homemade Nigerian cheese you’re about to eat. You'll always hear a record spinning, and there’s a BYOB policy in addition to that free wine." - will hartman, bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja
"This restaurant in Bed-Stuy serves a four-course, prix fixe Nigerian meal in a room where you'll sit at a communal table with strangers. If you don't want to talk to the person you brought, you can converse with the other people at the table, and the chef will suck up some time by explaining each course and telling some funny stories. The whole experience feels like a dinner party, and like at any dinner party, you're not supposed to spend your whole time talking to the person you're with." - kenny yang
"Restaurants went rogue in 2022. Some served unclassifiable food (see Nudibranch below), and others, like Dept of Culture, became full-on dinner parties with set menus and BYOB policies. At this tiny Bed-Stuy restaurant, most of the seating is around one big table. They serve a four-course menu inspired by the food of North-Central Nigeria, and the chef and owner walks you through each course, offering little jokes and anecdotes along the way. Your meal always starts with a pepper soup that has a bit of a kick, and if you’re lucky you might get some housemade cheese or nutty mushroom suya. Even if you’re tapped out on socializing, you’re going to make friends here. It’s just what happens when you’re eating good food in a room full of strangers who all brought bottles of wine." - carina finn koeppicus, kenny yang, neha talreja, bryan kim
"When you’re at Masalawala, you feel like you’re eating at a family function in someone’s home. Dept. Of Culture gives you that same feeling. This Bed-Stuy restaurant serves a four-course, prix-fixe meal consisting of new takes on Nigerian food at a communal table with strangers. Before each course, the chef comes out to set the scene around what you’re about to eat like he’s the MC at an awards show, with a few funny stories and insightful anecdotes thrown in. Nigerian records spin, and people share their BYOB selections with the table, making for one of our favorite dinner parties in the city." - team infatuation