Step into D.C.’s newest ultra-imaginative restaurant, Bronze–a three-story, 150-seat, Afrofuturistic fine dining experience. Bronze is spearheaded by 15-year hospitality industry expert Keem Hughley (owner) and the innovative and renowned executive chef Toya Henry. The concept is the brainchild of Hughley, who has brought to life the story of Alonzo Bronze, a fictional traveler (created by Hughley) who traveled for 700 years, trading cooking techniques and spices throughout the world.
Bronze offers a modest yet creatively explosive and offbeat menu that showcases an unconventional blending of flavors from every corner of the African diaspora, from the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa, North America, Central America, and beyond. Hughley and Henry have meticulously curated Bronze into a dining experience that celebrates the vastly inventive flavors, and cooking styles passed through the African diaspora over hundreds of years. Hughley says, on the crafting of the menu, “we wanted to make sure that the menu was rooted in [cooking practices] that…tie different [African] diasporic communities together”.
One of Hughley’s “favorites.” on the menu is the “Heirloom Carrots.” This dish includes colorful sweet braised carrots and charred cabbage, served over a bed of savory collard pesto. After tasting this tender and crunchy dish, it was a pleasure! It’s a great example of how to take something familiar to us and elevate it nutritionally.
Hughley also speaks highly of the “Braised Oxtail with Pappardelle,” describing it as a “grounding dish.” It’s unique because it’s a staple dish throughout the diaspora and a Jamaican recipe passed down over five generations that Chef Henry uses. It includes bone-in braised oxtail with pappardelle tossed in an herb pesto and served with lima and butter beans. Hughley says, “We wanted to use the oxtail, which is [well] known in our community…and elevate it”. By adding onto the oxtail, Hughley and Chef Henry have cultivated a visionary dish that allows guests to experience familiarity and discovery simultaneously.
Hughley admits that while the space may feel simple, this is far from the truth. Collaborating with Drummond Projects brought to life a visual design and architectural build as dynamic and decadent as the menu. The first level, Pre-Earth, offers a shadowy, tunnel-like ambiance, creating a hollow landscape where only the sun and the water once existed. As you enter the dining area, guests are met with a glittering 26-foot bar, sleek dark wooden tables, art honoring John Coltrane, and pieces by Kehinde Wiley. At the same time, tunes are intentionally kept at a discussion-level volume to allow guests to connect easily.
As you ascend to the second level, Earth, guests are met with a luminous and peaceful area featuring an exaggerated floor-to-ceiling window and an airy back patio overlooking the city. The vast open space is elegant and bright, allowing guests to take in their surroundings and feel one with Earth.
Finally, the highly anticipated Crane Room on the third level lifts guests off Earth and into the sky. As guests absorb this brilliantly lit, intimately sized room, they’re met with a golden bar and two windows to the front of the space, allowing guests to view Earth and creating a genuinely royal excitement. This level also boasts a back patio with a view of the city.
The aura guests feel when they enter Bronze is a product of the tedious planning process required to execute the vision. Jimmie Drummond shares that over many months, his team worked with Hughley to connect the dots of his message accurately and how he wanted to share it. Together they created a visually delicious and comfortable space.
Hughley’s purpose when bringing together Bronze is to share the cosmos of Afrofuturism with the world. To him, Afrofuturism is not linear or “two-pointed”; instead, it’s “an individualized idea of what you think the past and the future of the [African] diaspora looks like all around the world.” Guests have approached Hughley with varying opinions about his take on Afrofuturism–he says that one guest expressed that “[they] wanted the space to be more traditionally African… for the concept to make sense”. In contrast, on that same evening, a guest described that “the quality level of the space is right in-line with where I just left”; she had just returned from Paris. Hughley says she expressed “how excited she was to be Black in this space and to feel well represented.” Hughley appreciates these different accounts and says, “there is not one idea of Afrofuturism [and] I want people to experiment with their own ideas.”
This fine dining experience will do more than satiate you. It will expand your concept of “Black” food, leading you to investigate further and opening your mind to the future of the African diasporic palette. Whether you swing by for a charming and elevated drinks experience after work, a dinner party, or a solo date night, take in the highly curated and masterful Bronze ensemble.
