By Jordan Maxwell in Food & Beverage — Apr 20, 2023

Black-owned restaurant Bronze thriving in Washington, D.C.

Keem Hughley is the owner and executive chef Toya Henry created the menu.

The cocktail bar at Bronze, a new restaurant in Washington, D.C. DERECK AND VICTORIA MILLER PHOTO

A new Black-owned restaurant celebrating African culture and cuisine has taken off since opening a location in Washington, D.C. last December.

Bronze restaurant pays homage to Afrofuturism and encompasses two floors — the Pre-Earth and Crane rooms.

Keem Hughley is the owner and executive chef Toya Henry created the menu. Jimmie Drummond, founder and principal architect of Drummond Projects, designed Bronze.

“Our team did deep research into Afrofuturism, amassing a collection of recent creative achievements on the subject,” Drummond said in a statement. “We looked at work by multimedia creator Olalekan Jeyifous, author Nnedi Okorafor, visual artist Nyame Brown, and even the architecture in Marvel’s latest blockbuster series, "Black Panther."

“We took notes on the styles and textures used by the artists and read interviews about these creatives’ Afrofuturistic ideologies and intentions.”

The first floor offers a low-lit and atmospheric space, while the restaurant’s second floor includes a cocktail bar.

The menu includes braised oxtails with pappardelle, towers of torched oysters slathered with flying fish roe, slate boards of hamachi crudo with crispy dasheen, Choquette, frisée, rose apple, and more.