Dept. of Culture

Just came back from the restaurant and I feel so content and happy. I am not really into fine dining because a lot of the time it can get too intellectual, but I feel Dept. of Culture really made it experiential. The food is very good, I can feel the culture, the identity and the love in the food. I love Chef Ayo spend time explaining the dish, the culture and sharing his personal stories. He is not only a chef but an artist! This is a very unique, culturally and wholesome experience I had in NYC. We will definitely come back!

Incredible vibe. Unique vinyl selection, amazing food, and a host who has mastered the art of the evening. It feels like dining at the house of someone with impeccable taste in both spice and sound. The speakers are the absolute star of the room—crisp, warm, and perfectly tuned to the space. 10/10, would move in if I could.

My other half and I visited here on a Saturday evening. There are 2 sitting an evening and the menu is a set 4 course menu (which you don’t see beforehand and is regularly changing). You also have to prepay the $85 per person when you book so just be aware of that. The restaurant is BYOB, something which we knew from reviews but was only shared with us by the restaurant about 60 minutes before our reservation. We arrived promptly for our 6pm reservation and had our pick of seats on the communal table. The setup is one communal table and a few bar seats so if you are particular on where you want to sit then arrive right at your reservation time. Annoyingly someone was late to our seating so our service was delayed by about 25 minutes (by which point the person still hadn’t arrived) and thi

can’t wait to go back. you can tell the cooking, restaurant, staff, decor all comes from the heart. easily a top new york restaurant for me. thank you 🤎

This was a fun evening and I absolutely applaud what the chef aims to do here to in a communal setting, shine a spotlight on Nigerian cuisine in an elevated manner while sharing insights into the culture there in a fun way. We had a fun evening chatting with the neighbors at our table while enjoying our wine (it’s BYOB) and sampling some very unique dishes. There were four courses in all - the highlights for me being a homemade Nigerian cheese dish and a goat pepper pot. The only issue I had, which others have also raised, was the price. For four small dishes, the price felt very much on the high side. Nonetheless, it has encouraged me to seek out more restaurants featuring food from this part of the world which feels underrepresented.