Dept Of Culture

- I finally made it after months of trying
- byob
- they will chill your wine and beer and serve as needed
- I loved the cheese dish
- my second fave was the seafood main course
- I liked the bartop seating although there was no back
You also get to watch food prep
- I liked the addition of the personal stories
- this makes for a fun and interesting date night

Honestly, I love the story behind the food, and considering it is part of the show, I will give it 3 stars for a review. However, considering it is a restaurant, I don't think they are fully ready.

First of all, there are only 3 courses with one dessert, which takes around 3 hours. That's cause the hot dishes turn to cold when they land on my table.

Second, terrible service. We booked this place for a group of 4, arrived on time, still waiting over 15 minutes to get in (that day was a cold day outside). The servicer assigned us a bar table, barely able to hear each other, and no place to hang our jackets, we had to hold our bags and jackets to eat.

Again, for a dining experience around this price, there are so many good options such as sixty - three Clinton, Secchu Yokota, Jua, Atoboy...etc

Even though I appreciate the story and the culture (used to travel to West Africa a couple of years ago, I was very excited and happy to share the experience with frds) it is not the only thing that the restaurant sells to the customer.

Hope this place can be improved in the future, and make the restaurant industry more diverse.

After eating here, I am floored by anyone who has rated this restaurant less than 4-5 stars. This was one of the best tasting menus I've ever experienced and it is no surprise to me that it is of James Beard level.

To start, the food was simply amazing. I hear the critiques that the portions may be a bit small. But, the craftsmanship is immaculate, with attention to every detail and not a drop of leftover sauce anywhere to be found in the plating. The goat pepper soup was shockingly flavorful and spicy, an excellent start to the night. What followed was also on a similar par, with wara and abula (which I'd never had before) served deliciously. The reviews about needing an additional dish are fair, as are those that did not like the dessert as I found the caramelized dessert with ice cream a bit difficult to eat/cut. Regardless, the rest of the meal compensates. And to hear the stories that the chef has with each dish truly shows how thoughtful everything is.

Second, the environment. We sat at the counter which I actually think I prefer to the communal table since we could see the dishes being prepared and the tenderness that goes into each preparation. Would recommend. The soft music and the pictures on the wall really create an environment of being in someone's home.

The price point is a bit high, but not outlandish for the area. If I were to make any suggestion, it would be that the beautiful stories told by the chef be made while the food is being prepared, as some of the food had cooled down by the time the stories finished and we were to eat. The restaurant is BYOB, so it would be interesting if, since the reservations are so hard to get, the restaurant could suggest some pairings for the dishes as you truly do not know what you're in for.

I tried to score a reservation to this restaurant for quite some time and was giddy and excited to finally go. Once I did, I was left extremely disappointed. Let me explain.

After being seated around a long communal table, we did not get served any food until 40 minutes into the 2-hour dining experience! Nobody walked around chatting with us or even encouraging conversation amongst the guests, which set in a strange vibe.

When the food was finally served, the chef introduced each course by telling a brief story about eating these dishes growing up in Nigeria, but seemed rushed and did not deliver the heartfelt stories this restaurant boasts about. I also found it difficult to hear.

The first course was a goat pepper soup, which was spicy and flavorful with ample amounts of goat meat, but unfortunately was served at below room temperature rather than hot.

The second course was a dish made up of two types of sweet potato, which turned out to be lumpy in texture, with a smoky crayfish to add to the flavor. Also spicy, but milder than the first course. Nothing special.

The third course consisted of sautéed spinach and smoked fish with yams. At this point, I was feeling disappointed to be served another potato dish for the last savory course and was really craving some variety. Quite spicy again - several people around our table were not able to make it far into this course before giving up.

The desert was basically a plantain that was burnt into a rock, bitter and hard, served with a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream.

For the price ($120/person without drinks) and the hype, I felt robbed, as did my husband. Perhaps this was an off night and not a true representation of what this restaurant has to offer, but that is not something the customers paying the same price should be experiencing without even an explanation for the shortcomings and inconsistency.

It was a nice experience. I couldn't hear the chef explain the food - only heard some words here and there.y favorite dishes were the goat spicy soup and the cheese with tomato sauce. I'm not a fan of beans and the tilapia dish was just ok. The dessert course was not bad.

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 richly deserves.

Intimate, informative and so special! This was one of the best meals I've had because the chef took the time to expertly curate and explain each dish. It's like walking into someone's home and being welcomed with authentic Nigerian food!

One of the best dinners I've had. The dinner is excellent and the vibes are immaculate. Its a really intimate and somewhat informal dinner. They only seat about 12 and most are seated at a large communal table. Its made for conversation.

Its BYOB and they only have water so best to grab a bottle of wine or whatever your drink of choice is. They'll refrigerate it for you.

The menu changes every month so I wont go through every dish but the goat pepper pot and cassava dishes were my favorite. Lots of flavor a little bit of heat and lots of depth.

Each of the four courses is accompanied by a story about its history and connection to the chef. He tells beautiful stories and it really creates a one of kind dining experience.

If you can nab a seat, run dont walk, the awards are going to continue to rack up and it'll be all but impossible soon to get a reservation.

Nigerian dinner party hosted by chef Ayo. It's a communal table with goal of introducing you to around a dozen people and four Nigerian dishes.

Ayo recounts stories and inspirations with each dish. Frankly, you're coming here for Ayo. If you're not interested in his stories and meeting new people, then I'd recommend elsewhere. He tries to make you forget that you're in a make shift dinning room on Nostrand Avenue, and attempts to teleport you to his grandparent's home in Nigeria. He's entertaining and the room starts to open up once he begins to speak.

Food wise, it was a four course meal. First course, was a goat pepper soup. Broth had a pleasant and mild spiciness. Spice level is somewhere between a jalapeño and a Serrano. Little bit of goat meat plus a little chunk of tripe. If you swapped the goat for beef, then I would have guessed I was at a Chinese restaurant.

Second course was a sweet potato purée soup with a shrimp sauce. It was creamy and the shrimp sauce was bold. Aroma reminded me of dried shrimp flakes used in Japanese cuisine. It helped set up the next dish well.

The third dish was smoked haddock topped with spinach served over a bed of gelatin-ish mashed potatoes. One of my co-diners compared the texture to gnocchi. The haddock flavor was bold too. Quite smokey. Reminded me of dried smoked fish. I think having the shrimp sauce in the previous course helped build up to this very flavorful one.

Final course was caramelized plantains served with ice cream. Plantain was savory and nutty. It came together nicely once adding in the sweetness from the ice cream.

There's one gender neutral restroom. It's also BYOB. Pricing was just short of $120 per person once factoring in tip. All in all, I liked the dinner party atmosphere. It's inspired me to reach out to friends and family to arrange more home cooked dinner parties.

I really wanted to like this more. Food was good enough, but not especially creative or memorable. The only thing special about this meal was the gimmick of a small group of people sitting around a circle together. Granted it did feel nice and homey, and it was really interesting hearing Chef Balogun talk about his culture and childhood. The music was also nice. But all in all, I wouldn't recommend this to my friends.