NYC NOW - June 1, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

A Nigerian restaurant in Brooklyn is receiving some serious recognition. The Department of Culture has been named a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for "Best New Restaurant.” The James Beard Awards are often referred to as the “Oscars of the food world” and the winners will be announced on June 5th. WNYC’s Janae Pierre visited The Department of Culture to find out more about its menu and the man behind it, Chef Ayo Balogun.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre for WNYC. In the heart of Batesdye, Brooklyn, a once-hidden gem is receiving some serious recognition. The Department of Culture, a vibrant Nigerian restaurant, has been named a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. On a recent Friday night, I visited the Department of Culture to find out more about its menu and the man behind it. That story after the break. On a recent Friday night, I visited the Department of Culture to find out more about its menu and the man behind it. Tuts between a smoke shop and a corner store, the Department of Culture is a small storefront with an exterior that gives nothing away.

There's a 9 by 11 paper printout by the front door and some small letters at the bottom of the front window that say Department of Culture. But no mention of the words restaurant or Nigerian anywhere. If you know, you just know. just know. How you doing, sir? How are you? If you had a quick minute, I wanted to know if you're familiar with this spot right here. Negative. I see it all the time. I pass by all the time. I walk my dog, drive past here, a number of different things. I just never knew. As we arrived for the final seating of the night, Chef Ayo greets us wearing all white. Hello. Hey, Chef Ayo. Oh, hey, how are you? How are you? How are you? Nice to meet you. How are you doing? I'm doing good. Yeah, how was the first

First salina was quite cool. Was it a breeze. What's happening? What's on the menu? Oh, you have to come and see. Oh, I will. Mystery. Mystery. There's just four barstones and one large wooden communal table inside.

The sound of up-tempo drumming is heard as a record player spends vintage African records in the background. Large family portraits hang on the walls, including one of Chef Ayot's grandmother, who taught him to cook. The Department of Culture serves a four-course prefix menu, which typically changes every three weeks. There's a host and two waitresses,

but Chef Ayio is serving us himself. He explains each dish and his connection to it. The first course is goat meat pepper soup. He talks about what makes this dish come to life, and apparently it's all in the pepper called Rodo, R-O-D-O. Rodo can be spicy. However, it's not one of those families of Habanero that stays for punishment, you fill the heat and it goes away.

And like I mentioned, we're having goat-bid pepper soup, and I will continue to interrupt you as to go along. Please bear with me. Thank you so much. As a vegan alternative, Chef Ayio serves me Dodo, or plantain with obe sauce, a traditional Nigerian red pepper sauce. Which is something you get in the evening from this end-lidded herself right yam? just like giving them in fair.

And then you're having it with Obey, which is a base sauce that your rubber people use for a lot of us to use. This one is not that spice is more sweet. It's a, um, it's a beginning. Chef I.O's experience in the service industry goes back a long way. He arrived in Brooklyn in 1998 and spent 20 years honing his skills, eventually making his mark on bedstoy with three unique establishments. Civil Service coffee, the council cafe, and now, of course, the Department of Culture. Clearly, Chef Ayo likes playing with the idea of government names. So you see my late grandfather over there, you work for the government. My father worked for the

government. I don't work for the government, but I think there's some programming in there. I'm just naming everything government institutions, you know. If you guys want a government institutional name, text me. I'll come up with one still. The kitchen at the Department of Culture is tiny. much larger than any apartment kitchen in Brooklyn, and there's no room for an open flame. There's three hot plates where we cook all of the food. It's a very small kitchen. Everything you see is what we use. That's Gabe Sore, the Department of Culture's host. There is a small convection oven that we do use sometimes depending on the meal. But the food changes so often that a lot of times we don't end up using it.

For Gabe, the feeling at the Department of Culture is something, truly special. Yeah, it's very different. I mean, it's the same level of service and food, but it's a much more casual sitting, like, almost like a private event, even though everyone doesn't know each other. And despite not knowing the people next to us, everyone hits it off, sharing wine, sharing bites of my vegetarian dishes, and discussing the most random topics, like 90s TV shows. I like Judge Judy. Judge Judy would be like, you know, yeah. Yeah. and singing happy birthday to, I don't know, someone. Everyone is just viving as we wait for the next course,

barra cheese with obe sauce, a dish from the Fulani tribe. And I must admit, I've never had cheese like this. As he caps off the night, Ayo shares the inspiration of his restaurant with us. I wanted to cook the food I grew up eating, fruit from a region of Nigeria and north-central. With the absolute dignity, I believe it deserves. To be recognized, then to be able to represent me, y'all. It's so cool.

It's so, so, so cool. Thank you so much for coming to down with us. Thank you. Thank you. Happy birthday, but anyway. The James Beard Awards will be announced on June 5th. If Chef Ayos' Department of Culture receives the award, it could mean an even bigger leap

for this small but mighty restaurant. In the meantime, if you're fortunate enough to find an open seat at the Department of Culture, take it. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday. Three times a day. We'll be back tomorrow.