Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi
Caribbean restaurant · Upper West Side ·
Afro-Caribbean love letter to NYC from Bronx-born Kwame Onwuachi
Afro-Caribbean love letter to NYC from Bronx-born Kwame Onwuachi
"At Eater’s 20th anniversary party in Chelsea, the Tatiana stand from Kwame Onwuachi’s celebrated Lincoln Center restaurant brought “Rangoon royale” to the table, an African diasporic‑inflected take on the dish: a deeply‑fried, sturdy wonton loaded with braised oxtail, Osetra caviar, truffle, and plenty of poached crab. Crafted just right for one or two strong bites, it was a nice, meaty addition among the other vendor offerings." - Nadia Chaudhury
"Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall is the unlikely home of the best restaurant—and one of the toughest reservations—in NYC. Tatiana serves food inspired by Top Chef alum Kwame Onwuachi’s upbringing in The Bronx, like jerk lamb ribs, curried goat patties, and incredibly tender short rib pastrami suya. Have a fun night out here under some faux clouds illuminated by soft blue lighting, and listen to ’90s hip hop while you eat one-of-a-kind dishes that fully deliver. Reservations are released four weeks in advance at 12pm. If you can't snag one of those, try the six-seat bar. When we arrived on a Tuesday at 4:45pm, the line was already 10-people deep, and our four-person party was seated at 5:40pm. Get a drink in the lobby of David Geffen Hall while you wait." - bryan kim, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah
"Tatiana is the best restaurant in New York, and reservations are nearly impossible. The good news? Their outdoor dining, on a patio in Lincoln Center, is walk-in-only, making it by far the easiest way to try their lobster escovitch. Yeah, you’ll be missing out on the quasi-nightclub vibes of the dining room. But eating curried goat patties and short rib pastrami suya with a breeze in the sunshine is a reasonable consolation. Reservations are released four weeks in advance at 12pm. If you can't snag one of those, try the six-seat bar. When we arrived on a Tuesday at 4:45pm, the line was already 10-people deep, and our four-person party was seated at 5:40pm. Get a drink in the lobby of David Geffen Hall while you wait." - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, will hartman, willa moore, sonal shah
"I include Tatiana as one of the can't-miss restaurants participating in Eater Off Menu, named among the influential spots contributing to an Eater-curated lineup that celebrates the last 20 years of American food culture." - Eater Staff
"Located in New York City’s Lincoln Center in the Upper West Side, this restaurant named for Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s sister is an homage to his West African, Caribbean, and Creole roots and a response to the site’s history as Old San Juan Hill, a predominantly Black and Afro-Latin neighborhood that was pushed out; he aims to “honor the people who made the city what it is.” The decor nods to New York in subtle ways, with gold chains recalling chain-link fences he used to hop and iridescent columns resembling the rainbow slick on asphalt after a fire hydrant goes off. The dining room draws a community from all walks of life—“you'll see somebody with a do-rag sitting next to somebody in a tuxedo going to the opera”—and the team sees themselves reflected in the cuisine and the music. Dishes are built with intention and storytelling—“If a dish tells a story, it has a soul”—as Onwuachi focuses on pushing the culture and creating safe spaces, a spirit of authenticity that keeps the restaurant buzzing." - Alexis Benveniste