Dept. of Culture — Restaurant in New York

3.5 stars but rounding up for DOC's potential. Let me explain.

On food alone, Dept of Culture is a solid 3 stars. The quality is there, but there's a lack of diversity in the offerings and far too few dishes for the price: $111 (including tax and tip) netted us a tiny bowl of Goat Meat Pepper Soup (4 sips max), a slighter larger bowl of Asaro with Smoked Crayfish Sauce, a main dish of Abula (large appetizer-sized), and a small dessert of Dodo.

There should've been at least one more entree (or large app), and either an amuse bouche or a palate cleanser for the price. In fact, when they brought out dessert, our dining companion actually blurted out, "That's it? I could've done with at least one more dish of food."

So those are my critiques with Dept of Culture. Now here are my praises.

Chef Ayo Balogun is a clear culinary talent with a natural flair for storytelling. His explanations for each course were a delight and transported us to his childhood in Nigeria.

The communal dining table is all about good vibes, and we had a blast getting to know our seat mates. Great concept that should be adopted more often in other restaurants. We even had another Nigerian person in our group (from a different part of the country than Chef Ayo), so it was great to get his perspective on the dishes.

But mostly, Dept of Culture is--I truly, truly hope--a harbinger of better times for African food in upscale dining. I want it to be the Chez Panisse of Nigerian food (or even West African food if we're not ready to get so specific)--the trailblazer that introduces a specific cuisine to the American populace.

For too long, boring, bland, Euro-centric cuisines have dominated fine dining. East Asia entered the chat a while ago, South America came next, and even South Asian flavors are on the rise, but this snooty world has repeatedly ignored Africa despite us owing pretty much all of what we have in food to this motherland continent.

I had my 23rd birthday lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Nigerian restaurant in Chicago and have introduced (sometimes dragged) countless friends to different African restaurants throughout the years. I don't pretend to be an expert--I just love shining a light on great, overlooked food. If Dept of Culture--for its somewhat flawed but mostly steller model--can put Nigerian food on the map of Western fine dining, perhaps we can finally get more African restaurants that aren't bare bones hole-in-the-walls or fusion-with-European (a la Marcus Samuelsson) spots. Perhaps African food can finally get the top accolades it so...

The New York restaurant scene can be an amalgamation of cultures that feel like they're competing for supremacy. Rarely does a concept come around that marries authenticity to elegance, approachability to sustainability- with a dose of good old 'diner with friends'.

Ayo Balogun's tasting menu spot is what happens when we embrace our culinary specificity in all it's glory and share it through a subjective lens.

Specializing in fare native to North Central Nigeria's Kwara State, Ayo takes diners through a narrated journey of how he crafted the menu and pivotal influences that shaped his worldview. For a window into his world look no further than the walls decorated with pictures of his grandparents who've made their own posthumous contributions to the menu you'll enjoy.

On the Saturday night we visited the menu consisted of:

Red Snapper Pepper Soup- A soul warming fish broth balanced with watercress

Olu (Mushroom) Suya- Full disclosure I have a peanut allergy (which Ayo and his staff graciously asked about) so me and suya don't get along. However, my lady, who doesn't usually fancy mushrooms, raved about the crisp savory texture

Dodo- So dodo, or plantains as you might call them, were my replacement for the olu suya. These were prepared savory, seasoned and fried with a splash of hearty red sauce ( a gentle reminder of cross continental culinary ubiquity).

Tuwo ati Gbegiri ati eja Alaran- This stew like dish consist of fermented fish over a dollop of north Nigerian fufu (imagine a starchy marriage of pudding and mash potatoes) resting in smooth gbegiri (bean) soup. It's a bold then mild dance of seafood, earthen flavors, spice and starch.

Dodo ati Ice Cream- Dodo makes a sweet caramelized reappearance á la mode for dessert.

It's BYOB but they won't let your cup run dry. Make a reservation and pull up. You will not regret this...

My other half and I visited here on a Saturday evening. There are 2 sitting an evening and the menu is a set 4 course menu (which you don’t see beforehand and is regularly changing). You also have to prepay the $85 per person when you book so just be aware of that. The restaurant is BYOB, something which we knew from reviews but was only shared with us by the restaurant about 60 minutes before our reservation.

We arrived promptly for our 6pm reservation and had our pick of seats on the communal table. The setup is one communal table and a few bar seats so if you are particular on where you want to sit then arrive right at your reservation time. Annoyingly someone was late to our seating so our service was delayed by about 25 minutes (by which point the person still hadn’t arrived) and this did result in the meal being slightly rushed.

We started with the Pepper Soup, which was out highlight of the evening (I would return just for this dish). The fish was perfectly cooked and the pepper soup had a good kick to it, a really well balanced dish. The next dish was a Nigerian cheese dish, I am not a cheese fan so can’t fairly judge this but the tomato sauce it came in was lovely (I just hated the cheese). Next we had Herring and Yams, I found this dish a little stodgy and the picketed herring flavour was slightly overwhelming. I enjoyed a small amount of it but found the dish difficult to finish. The meal ended with caramelised plantain, which was very sweet but a nice way to end the meal.

I really enjoyed the experience and the chef coming out and explaining each dish was a nice touch. Overall we had a nice evening but not sure we would rush back. The portion sizes were pretty small (although the yams were filling) and for the price point I think I would rather visit somewhere else. However I do encourage people to try Dept of Culture...