What do chefs really eat? Sometimes it’s a nice ribeye or whole-roasted duck, sure. But often it’s fast food or quickly assembled pantry staples. Kwame Onwuachi, the chef behind DC’s Afro-Caribbean restaurant Dōgon and the uber-popular Tatiana in New York, gives a glimpse into his chaotic diet in his new cookbook All Hours, whether it’s Dominican-style oxtails or a Taco Bell-inspired Crunch Wrap Supreme “my way.” We chatted with Onwuachi about the inspiration he drew from DC, the dish Rihanna couldn’t get enough of, and whether he’ll ever bring back his former cheesesteak spot, Philly Wing Fry.
I feel like this is not your typical chef book because it’s not just restaurant recipes or a specific cuisine. How did you decide you wanted to approach this book?
I really wanted to just cook food based off of how I actually eat, not just how I cook for other people. I’m eating at all hours, all times of the day. I’m always on the go. So, you know, there’s stuff I eat in the hotel lobby when I’m in DC, or when I’m in the airport, or my late night cravings, or if I’m going to a party for friends.
Some people assume chefs are eating these lavish or gourmet meals all the time when, in fact, the opposite is often true.
Exactly, exactly. We don’t have much time, so we’re normally grabbing things that are already in our pantry. A lot of the stuff is stuff that you can grab from the grocery store and make a delicious meal in a short period of time. Things that are from my childhood up until now.
What are some of your personal favorite standbys in the book—recipes that aren’t inherently glamorous, but that you are actually returning to the most?
I would say the souped-up Top Ramen is really great. It’s store-bought ramen with this shito crunch that I make, which is like a mix between a Ghanaian condiment and a Chinese condiment. [I add] some shrimp, emulsify some butter into it, some fresh green onions. That’s one of my favorite dishes.
The book draws from experiences all over the world, but how did eating around DC inspire some of the recipes?
There’s a dish inspired by Thip Khao’s sun-dried beef that’s in there, which is definitely one of my favorite recipes. There’s also H Street chicken [inspired by] my times on H Street late at night, just eating Ethiopian food, a little bit of West African food. And then the Dogon hoe crab is in the book as well.
You also have a very clever ode to Ben’s Chili Bowl in the book and on Dogon’s menu that’s not just a riff on a chili half smoke. Explain Ben’s Bowl and how you came up with that.
I called [Ben’s owner] Virginia Ali when I was opening up Dogon, and I knew I wanted to have a dish on there that represented Ben’s Chili Bowl, but I thought it was pretty corny to just go with a chili hot dog or a chili something. She was telling me about her husband Ben and how he was from Trinidad and Tobago. He made Ben’s Chili Bowl for American palates, but at home, he loved lamb curry or goat curry or beef curry with potatoes. So I made that dish in the likeness of, like, what is a bowl that Ben would actually eat? I don’t think he particularly would be eating chili back in Trinidad. I wanted to make something that represented his culture, which is also my culture at the same time.
I assume Virginia Ali has tried it. What was it like the first time she tried it?
Oh man, she loved it. She was pretty emotional. Her and her daughter. It’s something that she orders when she comes to the restaurant every time.
You also have various recipes like takeout wings or halal cart chicken and lamb over rice that are kind of great because they’re cheap and simple and of the place. How did you approach those and balance being cheffy but without being too cheffy?
I’m taking the dish at its essence and then just adding a little bit more of what I’ve learned throughout the years and applying it to it. Maybe it’s taking the lamb and making my own shawarma spice. It’s taking the chicken and brining it. It’s parching the rice. So it’s adding little technical things to it, but it’s not removing the essence of a dish.
You also have a few recipes from Philly Wing Fry. Have you ever considered bringing that concept back?
I toy with it. I loved it. It was beloved in the city, for sure. But I haven’t thought about bringing it back entirely in recent years, no. I do miss it though. I would say it’s the restaurant I ate at the most of any of my restaurants.
One other recipe we have to talk about is Riri’s Alfredo. Can you share more of the backstory of making pasta Alfredo for Rhianna?
I was her personal chef for a bit during the pandemic, and it was a dish that she used to request all the time. She’s a very, very simple eater, creature of habit, same dishes on rotation. It was probably the only dish I got to make a sauce for, so it was something that I really enjoyed making. The key is to blend the béchamel and then add in the cheese while it’s blending so it holds really, really tight when you add it back to the noodles with a little bit of pasta water.
How did that come about that you ended up being her personal chef?
I did a party for Jay-Z and she happened to be there. She ate the food and she really enjoyed it, and she asked for my number. I would say like six months later, I got a phone call asking if I want to come to LA for a couple of months. It was a wild, wild ride. That was definitely all hours, being up on call 24 hours a day to make chicken Alfredo or wings or something.
Do you remember what it was she had at that party that she was like ‘I need your number?’
Honestly, it was just shaved ice. I had a shaved ice station, like gooseberry satsuma-flavored shaved ice and elderflower shaved ice. She just took one bite and was like, ‘What? Who’s the chef?’ I just happened to be serving at the station because the party was almost over. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s me.’ And she was like, ‘Take my number down.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t have a pen.’ She snapped and a pen appeared in her hand and wrote it down and the rest is history.
Switching to restaurants. The hotel that houses Dogon changed hands recently. Has that changed anything for the restaurant?
No, just the name of the hotel, the sign changed. Everything else pretty much is the same. It’s been a pretty swift and painless transition. The one thing they wanted to keep was the restaurant.
That’s good. Do you think you’ll do any more projects in DC in the future?
I hope so. I’m juggling enough right now, but, you know, maybe in the future. Maybe you’ll see a Philly Wing Fry pop back up or something like that.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’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.
