Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi
West African restaurant · Southwest Employment Area ·
Afro-Caribbean fare with bold flavors: branzino, oxtails, curried greens
Afro-Caribbean fare with bold flavors: branzino, oxtails, curried greens
"Mentioned as a Washington D.C. spot that highlights West African cooking, Dōgon was used to illustrate the list’s recognition of African diaspora cuisines in North America." - Matthew Kang
"In Dōgon I encountered Kwame Onwuachi’s homecoming to DC: a dim, music-forward dining room where dishes reference the African diaspora and celebrate the city’s communities—chunks of Wagyu beef short rib with smoky awaze and ayib cheese nod to the Ethiopian population, and shredded deep-fried lamb with curried chickpeas pays tribute to Ben Ali and local culinary history—delivered with the crowd-pleasing energy and attentive service of a hotel-anchored restaurant." - ByThe Bon Appétit Staff
"Fresh off turning one inside the Salamander hotel, Kwame Onwuachi’s Afro-Caribbean sensation earns a spot on the New York Times list of America’s 50 best restaurants." - Tierney Plumb
"Things are done a little differently at Dōgon. The newest restaurant from Kwame Onwuachi, the chef behind Kith/Kin and Infatuation NYC’s highest-rated restaurant, Tatiana, is tucked in the lobby of the Salamander hotel on the Southwest Waterfront. Step inside the expansive dining room, beyond the pillars that create little nooks, and the soft R&B tunes playing overhead will invite you to settle in. You should. Everything you’ll taste on the Afro-Caribbean menu starts at very good and dips into incredible. While there are a few traditional Caribbean and Pan-African dishes, nothing is quite what you might expect. The Hoe Crab? Delightful silver-dollar-sized plantain hoe cakes with delicately seasoned crab meat in a crab shell. It all feels playful, and it all goes down very, very well. Reservations are tough to secure, even weeks in advance, but you can score a walk-in seat and full menu service at the compact bar for up to two guests in a party. Get there early to have a fighting chance." - omnia saed, madeline weinfield, jonathan smith, mekita rivas, allison robicelli, omnia saed, kym backer
"Celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi made a hotly anticipated return to D.C.’s dining scene in fall 2024 with an Afro-Caribbean restaurant situated at the foot of the 373-room Salamander Washington DC. Dōgon pays homage to D.C.’s late-1700s land surveyor Benjamin Banneker and his ties to the West African Dōgon tribe. Onwuachi’s menu explores his own Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole heritage, including barbecue greens with candied Cipollini onions, roasted garlic, and beef bacon; plantain hoe cakes; carrot tigua (pickled onion, peanut crustacean stew, burnt carrots); and “H Street” chicken and rice with Ethiopian berbere spices, jollof rice, and herbs. Drinks designed by vet D.C. mixologist Derek Brown are also not to miss. Must-try dish: Coco bread with malted sorghum butter" - Tierney Plumb
