Motherland to Magazine Street
Chef Serigne Mbaye's life changed when Dakar NOLA was named the 2024 Best New Restaurant at the James Beard Awards.
He flew his entire staff out to the awards ceremony in Chicago, anticipating the potential win. Wearing traditional African garb, he fell to the ground holding his head in disbelief after the words "Dakar NOLA" rang from the announcer's microphone and were displayed across a large screen on stage.
It was a moment he will never forget. Judging by the genuine smile on his face and the light in his eyes as he talked about it during our interview, that moment still brings him the same pure joy almost a year later. "I used to be embarrassed to have my clothes out when my mom was cooking because I knew that the smell would get into my clothes," Mbaye said. "People used to laugh about me going to school and having those aromas on me. For me to cook that food and bring our entire staff to Chicago and win that award—man, it's special. It shows that people are paying attention."
Since the big win, the Senegalese chef and his restaurant have been flooded with recognition. Mbaye was spotlighted on the TIME 100 Next list in 2024. Dakar NOLA has been featured on national platforms including CBS Mornings, Square's website, the NFL's website, and the NFL One Pass app for the Super Bowl. With its growing fame, business has ramped up at the Magazine Street restaurant, allowing Mbaye to hire more staff and promote existing staff to leadership roles.
About Dakar & Mbaye
Mbaye doesn't run the restaurant alone. Dr. Afua "Effie" Richardson is the managing director and co-owner of Dakar NOLA. The two met when Mbaye was hosting pop-up events around town. She fell in love with his food and knew more people had to experience what he was creating. Before owning a prestigious restaurant, Mbaye started serving food pop-up style in 2016. At the time, he worked at Commander's Palace before leaving New Orleans to work at a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco. He continued to host pop-ups in California, gauging customer's interest in his food. He then moved to New York, where he's originally from, and eventually made his way back to the Big Easy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Upon his return to New Orleans, he was chef de cuisine at Mosquito Supper Club, where he was named Eater NOLA's 2021 Chef of the Year.
In 2022, his dreams came to life when he opened his first brick-and-mortar. That year and the year following, he was a semifinalist and finalist for the James Beard Awards Emerging Chef category. Little did he know, 2024 would be his breakthrough year.
Mbaye entering the restaurant industry came as no surprise. Before he was born, his mother also had a restaurant serving traditional Senegalese food. Growing up, his family's home became a safe space where Senegalese people found community in Harlem and could experience a taste of home. "I always knew that being in the culinary industry is something I wanted to be a part of," Mbaye admitted. "It means a lot to me and cooking gave me hope. Food allows me to dream, see the world, and stay hungry for education."
Dishes at Dakar NOLA
For a restaurant making such big waves in the industry, it's not as large as you might think. Dakar NOLA is located within a traditional New Orleans-style house with a modernized interior, seating up to 26 people.
It has an exclusive and elevated feel, serving seven-course tasting menus that rotate based on seasonal produce and local seafood catches. Guests can opt for a communal table and share a family-style meal with up to six strangers or have a private table experience with their friends or loved ones. Mbaye designed the menu with storytelling in mind. He bridges the worlds of the two coastal cities he loves the most: Dakar and New Orleans.
"Going to the market and talking to farmers is a crucial part of Dakar and what we do because they help us to create the experience," Mbaye said. "The farmers are the true storytellers. I'm just adding to the story that the farmers are creating and figuring out how to merge it into the work that we're doing here at Dakar."
His dishes are inspired by conversations with grandparents, real-life experiences, and comfort food from his upbringing and surroundings.
Some of Dakar NOLA's most popular dishes include "The Last Meal," jollof rice, and organic palm oil bread rolls. "The Last Meal" pays homage to the enslaved West Africans who reached the "Door of No Return" of the African continent on Goree Island during the transatlantic slave trade. While unknowingly awaiting their captivity, the enslaved Africans were fed black eyes peas and palm oil, likely offered to fatten up the enslaved people before enduring harsh traveling conditions, Mbaye explained. Mbaye incorporates black-eyed peas and palm oil into his tasting menu, as they are still Senegalese and Gambian cuisine staples to this day.
Jollof rice, another West African staple, is much like the African equivalent of jambalaya. By serving jollof rice, Dakar NOLA nods at the historic connection between West Africa and Louisiana dating back to the transatlantic slave trade. When enslaved Africans were brought to Louisiana, they brought their traditions, culture, and cuisine along with them. Dakar NOLA's jollof rice is served with roff, a vibrant green sauce made with fresh herbs, garlic, citrus notes, olive oil, and spices.
For the next chapter of Dakar NOLA, Mbaye wants to think bigger. He plans to launch an educational program that brings young cooks and chefs from New Orleans to Africa, showing them where his inspiration comes from and where certain dishes and cooking styles originate. "I want people to know that West African cuisine has contributed a lot to world cuisine," Mbaye said. "People need to know that our food has a voice. It could stand amongst all the giant cuisines in the world. It should be respected."
