About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Dawa. 2208 14th St., NW.
At Elmina on 14th Street, chef Eric Adjepong puts an elevated, contemporary spin on Ghanaian dishes. Recently, the Food Network and Top Chef star branched into fast-casual with Dawa, offering takeout-only takes on West African dishes.
The menu spans from slow-cooked suya-crusted short rib over jollof rice to red red—stewed black eyed peas with sweet plantains and avocado. One of the signature dishes on Elmina’s menu is a shareable platter with smoked jollof rice and duck prepared three ways. At Dawa, you’ll find a personalized portion with a tamarind-glazed confit duck leg and toasted tomato salad over jollof rice.
Other dishes lean less traditional, including a West African take on ramen. Adjepong makes a chicken consommé out of a classic pepper soup that’s spiced with calabash nutmeg, allspice, and some heat. It’s paired with noodles, suya-spiced short rib, and a peri-peri oil.
The name Dawa comes from dawadawa, a fermented locust bean found in Ghana. “It’s very umami based. It has a funk to it. It’s like plant-based fish sauce. It’s really, really deep flavors,” Adjepong says. Here, he grinds it into a powder that seasons a smash burger. The patty is topped with a Senegalese yassa onion jam, which is flavored with tangy yellow mustard, ginger, and garlic.
Another favorite dish of Adjepong’s is a side: sweet fried plantains with caramelized mojo onions. They’re tossed in a tangy benne-seed miso. “It’s just a one-two punch of sweet and umami. And that right there goes well with so many other dishes from the menu,” he says.
Cocktails are also bottled to-go, including a clarified Courvoisier cognac punch with papaya and turmeric or a rum drink enriched with plantain, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, and honey.
While Dawa is housed inside Elmina for now, Adjepong hopes to expand it to its own location going forward. He also sees Dawa as the second part of a three-tier plan, which will eventually include something even higher-end than Elmina.
“I want to do something super ambitious, I’ll say that, and a really cool sort of reservation system,” he says. “I have it in mind, and I want to let that go when it’s ready.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
