WASHINGTON — Food is one way to immerse yourself into a new culture, and there’s a restaurant on H Street in Northeast D.C. giving people a front row seat to Afrofuturism.
Bronze focuses on food from countries part of the African diaspora.
“This block means a lot to me,” owner Keem Hughley said. Bronze is creating quite the buzz, and Hughley, a D.C. native, couldn’t be happier.
“I’ve been in hospitality for almost 16 years now, I grew up two blocks away from Bronze, I have a lot of history on this block,” Hughley said.
A graduate of Wilson High School, Hughley is trying to fill a void in what he calls the afro-luxury dining market. Walking into Bronze, diners can see odes to African culture, and architecture. Jimmie Drummond, a DMV native and Howard University graduate, is the architect behind the project.
“With the architecture, food, the bar program -- we created basically a language. We wanted to make sure it was rooted in diasporic cuisines and root vegetables but we use any ingredient in the world to elevate our traditional dishes,” Hughley said.
He describes Afrofuturism as “creating without limits for people from diasporic communities around the world.”
Toya Henry, a New York native, is the executive chef.
“My method of cooking is based off of traditional, as well as focusing on health, building the body,” Henry said.
The menu focuses on pulling inspiration from countries specific to the African diaspora and from Chef Toya’s heritage. Her mom is from Barbados and her dad is Jamaican.
“So we pull references from the Caribbean as well as the south. Keem has southern American heritage as well. The goal was for us to just provide something very nourishing and exciting and delicious for our guests,” said Henry.
As the growth on this section of H Street continues, Keem says he wants to see more familiar faces owning the businesses now laying roots in D.C.
“Make sure it doesn’t become a transplant street…It’s people like me who are operating these spaces,” Hughley said.
Slutty Vegan, the Black-owned vegan restaurant based in Atlanta, is opening a location on H Street later this year, according to a post from the owner’s Instagram account.
Bronze is open 7 days a week. Reservations can be made online.