Kwame Onwuachi's DC: The Chef and Author Shares His Favorite Bites in His City

Kwame Onwuachi was born on Long Island and raised between New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana. He was first exposed to the art of cooking by his mother, whom he watched as she prepared food in his family's Bronx home. It's this experience, paired with his travels and work all over, that has informed his unique style of cooking. After training at the Culinary Institute of America, Onwuachi went on to open five restaurants before he turned 30, garnering him a coveted spot on Zagat and Forbes's "30 Under 30" lists.

Today, with a new James Beard Award under his belt, Onwuachi is the executive chef at Kith/Kin—and his memoirs can be read in his acclaimed book, Notes From a Young Black Chef. We sat down with this esteemed chef and self-proclaimed pork fried rice enthusiast to learn about where he eats on his days and nights off. Here's what he had to say.

Kwame’s Night-Off Philosophy

"A night off for me is very rare, so it's always spontaneous. It’s never anything that's super set in stone, because of my business. I have two restaurants, and if somebody calls out, I have to come in. It's tough. When I do have a day off, my attitude varies. Some days I just want to hang out at the house and get Chinese food—chicken wings, pork fried rice—and watch Netflix all day. Some days, I’m like, 'Let's go to Six Flags,' or 'Let's go zip-lining,' or something. I may just call my friends and be like, 'Hey, let's go out drinking right now,' or 'Let's go out to a restaurant that we really want to go to.' It depends on my mood, and also what happened the day before, you know?"

How Kwame Gets the Most Out of a Night Off

"When I’ve got a night off and I want to go out to eat, I like to eat at the ethnic spots, and hole-in-the-wall-type places. I like to eat at places that remind me of home, of the Bronx, and those are the places that do. My mom is a chef, and she always used to cook at home, so I always had home-cooked meals growing up. She didn't like processed things, and she would take us to restaurants like that growing up."

Kwame's Favorite Places to Eat in DC

El Sol Tequileria

"My jam is El Sol Tequileria. It's a taco shop, and it’s really, really good. They make their own tortillas, which are really tasty. But I don’t normally get the tacos. I get the vuelve a la vida, which is like a seafood cocktail. So there’s shrimp, octopus, and mussels in a spicy tomato sauce, with saltine crackers on the side."

Bukom Café

"There's a lot of great African food here, too. Like Bukom Café, a West African restaurant in Adams Morgan. I usually get, like, egusi stew [tender goat meat cooked in a tasty broth of ground melon seeds and spinach in palm oil], jollof rice, or suya, which is like West African barbecue."

Chercher

"There’s also Chercher, an Ethiopian restaurant that's really, really delicious here. That's in Shaw as well. I usually get the tibs, which is like beef tips—steak with onions and green bell peppers and chilies. The kifto, which is like an Ethiopian tartare, is also really good. And fosolia, which is, like, green beans and carrots caramelized with onions and tomato sauce. It's very tasty."

The Hamilton

"For a celebratory meal, I'd probably go late-night to The Hamilton. In DC, all the fancy restaurants or whatever close pretty early, and we get out late from work, like 1 a.m. And at The Hamilton, after-hours sushi is half off. I get, like, one piece of everything in nigiri, and we all go crazy on it."

CopyCat Co.

"Another late-night spot I like is CopyCat Co. for dumplings and cocktails. I usually get a daiquiri and a Triple Delight combo."

El Rinconcito Café

"I would also tell visitors to check out El Rinconcito. It's a Salvadorean restaurant in Shaw. I like to go there for lunch, and I usually get pollo guisado, which is stewed chicken, and pupusas filled with chicharrón and cheese."

Los Hermanos

"Another restaurant I like is Los Hermanos, which means 'two brothers' in Spanish. It's a Dominican restaurant in Columbia Heights. I usually get the tripe sofrito or roast pork, also known as pernil, and yellow rice and beans. It’s very casual. You just walk up and point out what you want, and they put it on a plate and weigh it out for you."

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