Ubuntu Brings Vibrant Vegan West African Cuisine to West Hollywood
Shenarri Freeman was fresh from culinary school when she opened Cadence, her very personal vegan soul food restaurant in New York City, in the spring of 2021. Still, she hit her stride rather quickly. A few months in, New York Times food critic Pete Wells was gushing over her garlic pancake with black-eyed peas and her Southern fried lasagna, and within a year, the restaurant made it into the Michelin Guide. Freeman herself was nominated for a James Beard Award and named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30.
Yet even amidst her whirlwind success in New York, the chef always had a thing for Los Angeles. So with the support of Overthrow Hospitality, the group founded by restaurateur Ravi DeRossi, Freeman moved across the country to helm her sophomore restaurant, Ubuntu, in West Hollywood. This time around, her cuisine draws much less from her Southern upbringing and instead nods to West Africa, specifically the food of Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.
In addition to Freeman’s arrival in Los Angeles, Ubuntu also marks the first restaurant outside of New York for DeRossi, whose expertise is in intimate, plant-based restaurants and serious cocktail bars (Amor y Amargo, Avant Garden, etc). Here’s everything you need to know before you go.
1. The menu is inspired by Freeman’s recent travels to West Africa.
At the beginning of this year, Freeman traveled to Africa to try ingredients, meet with chefs, and gather inspiration. Although she is a vegan chef and has maintained a vegan diet for many years, she had no restrictions while traveling. “I wanted to try everything, experience different textures and flavors, and really open up my palate,” she says. This openness, she believes, enabled her to have a holistic experience that she could translate back into her plant-based cooking stateside. At Ubuntu, her menu is focused on ingredients — such as fonio, palm wine, okra, and yams — and recipes from Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and Dakar, Senegal.
2. So, expect plant-based spins on traditional West African dishes.
Jollof rice is curried and fried into arancini-esque balls. Charred okra is served as a salad, atop pigeon peas, red kidney beans, and a passion fruit vinaigrette. And fonio, a West African grain that Freeman sources from the Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam’s company Yolélé, is used to make grits with oyster mushrooms and Old Bay seasoning.
3. Acclaimed mixologist Colin Asare-Appiah is behind the cocktails.
In addition to being a restaurateur, DeRossi is also a veteran of the cocktail world, having founded several acclaimed bars, including Death & Co. (which has a location in Los Angeles). He’s known Asare-Appiah — a seasoned mixologist and the author of Black Mixcellence: A Comprehensive Guide to Black Mixology — for a long time, and was excited to bring him on board. Asare-Appiah’s creations include six cocktails, like the vodka-based Chi Chi Passion Fiz with passion fruit, pineapple, lime, and sparkling wine and the Jam Afrique with cognac, lemongrass, and Creole-and-cocoa bitters. There are non-alcoholic libations as well, such as the Crimson Coconut, made with Ritual’s virgin Tequila, beet syrup, and coconut water.
4. The wine list exclusively features bottles made by Black winemakers or Black-owned wineries.
Freeman worked with Drew Brady, Overthrow Hospitality’s wine director, to craft an all-Black wine list for Cadence, and here, they’ve done the same. Most of the wines on the list are made in South Africa and California by wineries including Aslina, Kumusha, and House of Brown. As for beer, all of the breweries they’re sourcing from are not only Black-owned but women-owned as well.
5. Patio season is on.
The restaurant’s dining room has 50 seats. But outside, that number expands — by 20 more seats now, and 50 more soon — thanks to patio seating, a vibey oasis secluded from the hubbub of Melrose Avenue.
Psst: There are also talks of weekend brunch.
Emily Wilson is a Los Angeles-based food writer from New York. She has contributed to Bon Appétit, Eater, TASTE, The Los Angeles Times, Punch, Atlas Obscura, and more. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Resy, too.
