How to book Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi

Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is the New York restaurant of chef Kwame Onwuachi, who is also its owner and head chef. It opened in November 2022 inside David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, on the Upper West Side^4,5. The business is operated with Restaurant Associates¹.

The restaurant is named for the chef's sister Tatiana, who looked after him while their mother worked as a chef in the city². Onwuachi calls it his "love letter to New York"¹, and the cooking draws on his Afro-Caribbean roots by way of the Bronx, as well as the Italian bakeries, Chinese takeout, roti shops and bodegas he grew up around².

The menu is à la carte and built around small and large plates meant for sharing, plus desserts^3,7. Dishes include curried goat patties, egusi tortellini, crispy okra, braised oxtail, Mom Dukes' shrimp and a short rib pastrami suya, with a dessert called the Bodega Special made with a Cosmic Brownie and powdered sugar donut ice cream³. The room has pink velvet chairs, marble tables and gold cutlery⁷ under cloud-shaped chandeliers lit in blue and purple, with hip-hop and R&B playing loudly⁶. Dinner is served Tuesday to Saturday⁴.

The New York Times gave it three stars, and its critic Pete Wells ranked it first among the city's 100 best restaurants in both 2023 and 2024. It was also a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2024, and it is known for reservations that are hard to get⁵.