Get ready for some jollof rice. African restaurant week returns this Friday for its second year in Philadelphia. From June 19 to 29, Black and African restaurants will be offering deals and putting on pop-up events around the city.
“It’s about supporting small businesses,” said Akin Akinsanya, the founder of African Restaurant Week. According to Akinsanya, the idea for the week “came out of a sense of culture, of pride.”
Akinsanya, who is from Nigeria, began the idea in New York in 2013 as an after-work event celebrating African cuisine. The project soon grew into a weeklong event, expanding over the past decade into cities like New Jersey, Maryland, Washington D.C. and even the Bay Area. This year, around 20 Philly restaurants are taking part.
“It’s probably about eight countries in total that have been represented,” Akinsanya said, listing Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Senegal, Jamaica and the Ivory Coast. “I’ve probably tried every dish now. Doing African Restaurant Week also exposed me to dishes from different parts of Africa myself.”
The goal is to both bring discounts to local foodies and draw attention to spots around the city, both old and new.
“It is our first year to participate in African Restaurant Week,” said Lauretta Hassann-Nwani, owner of The Saints Restaurant and Lounge, which opened in Rittenhouse this April. “It’s really just important because it shines a spotlight on Africa and the diaspora – cuisine that we as a society often overlook.”
The Saints Restaurant and Lounge serves West African-inspired cuisine, but with a modern, elevated take. Later in the evening, lounge vibes take over with cocktails and afro-beats.
“It’s more warm and welcoming,” Hassann-Nwani said. “It is perfect for dinner or cultural date nights.”
Hassann-Nwani is a second generation immigrant from Sierra Leone, but her restaurant takes inspiration from different West African countries. Menu items include snapper with green curry sauce and puffed plantain, seared Lagos lamb with a signature jollof rice, and a bowl that celebrates different West African cultures.
During restaurant week, The Saints is offering 10% off dishes and hosting special events — including a Sunday day party with brunch deals and a mixer on June 27.
“Our mission is to make African culture feel beautifully presented in a space where it is often under-represented,” Hassann-Nwani said. “It’s really about celebrating excellence and just creating a space where both the diaspora and our neighbors in the city can feel more connected.”
Hassann-Nwani is hoping that the week brings in new customers to African restaurants like her own.
“This week really gives us a collective moment to showcase not only our food, but also our culture, our creativity and contributions to the hospitality industry as a whole,” she said. “We are really proud to be a part of the African restaurant region, and also just being in Rittenhouse, which typically you wouldn’t find a West African restaurant in Rittenhouse.”
African food already falls under a big umbrella, and a variety of restaurants are taking part in this year’s lineup, including Eatwell Philly, Gou Restaurant and Gojjo. Also among them is New Era Cuisine, a fast-casual Nigerian eatery located on the lower concourse at 1500 JFK. New Era Cuisine offers peppered chicken with sweet plantains and African shawarma. And for those looking to stay in, they have takeout and delivery options. It’s run by chef Olaoti Ajibola, better known as Chef Tee.
Each restaurant will offer its own unique deals, and Chef Tee will be featuring special promotions and exclusive tastings in celebration of African Restaurant Week.
“I will be having a ‘dinner with Chef Tee’ session that will be hosted at Prime Fusion,” she said. “Dinner tickets will be available starting the beginning of next week. The theme of this year’s festival is a night in Lagos. So, we’re trying to bring the afro-fusion and also the authentic Nigerian cuisine to Philadelphia.”
What’s more, New Era Cuisine is one of the select participating restaurants in a special end-of-the-week festival in LOVE Park on Sunday, June 29.
“At the festival, we’ll have music, we’ll have a marketplace, we’ll have a tasting competition for who has the best tasting jollof rice,” Akinsanya said. “We’ll have some local talents.”
Many African countries have their own take on jollof rice. There are even friendly rivalries, or jollof wars, between countries on who makes the best version. The festival’s taste test will bring a mini version of that passionate competition to Philly.
Chef Tee is excited to participate and hang out with different staff from African-inspired restaurants around town.
“Philadelphia is very big, but I feel like it’s a melting pot as well,” she said. “So we have so many different African restaurants, from East Africa to West. The city is so compartmentalized that all of us are just everywhere, but this thing brings us together.”
At the event, Chef Tee will be serving up a range of Nigerian foods, including puff puff with a Zulu-inspired syrup, suya and abula — a traditional Yoruba meal. Like Hassann-Nwani, she is excited about the attention that African Restaurant Week brings to food like hers.
“I never even thought in my wildest dream that I would be a chef, let alone a restaurant owner,” she said, explaining she originally went to school for chemical engineering. “So, it’s great to be able to do something and utilize the platform that I am given to expose the culture that we have from back home.”
Akinsanya echoed this sentiment.
“We’re able to see increased food traffic, and at the end of the day that’s the most important thing,” he said. “When the restaurants are happy and they appreciate the initiative, and they’ve been able to see a bounce during the week, that’s really, really satisfying.”
Check out the full list of participating restaurants here, as well as more details on African Restaurant Week here.
