Restaurant brings culture, taste of Africa next door

Senegalese art, the aroma of West African spices and smiling waitresses dressed in traditional African garb welcome diners to West Philadelphia' s newest culinary acquisition -- Fatou and Fama. Fatou and Fama restaurant features West African, Caribbean and American soul food all freshly prepared by the restaurant's owner, Fatou N'Diaye. After relocating from a less elaborate location in northwest Philadelphia in order to stimulate business and to create a better dining atmosphere, the restaurant reopened at its new 4002 Chestnut Street location on Dec. 17, adding West African cuisine to the block, which is also home to several other exotic restaurants. "Penn is a culturally diverse community and the neighborhood is diverse as well so we were like the missing link," the restaurant's manager Taliah Munir-Diouf said. "You have Indian, Thai and Italian and the Senegalese touch just gave it extra spice." Diners seemed to agree. "We have all these other types of food, but nothing from this region," Wharton senior Alex Duff said. "Plus, the food is great." N'Diaye, who named the restaurant in honor of her relationship with her mother and role model Fama N'Diaye, stresses that eating at her restaurant is a unique experience. "The restaurant is special, first of all, because of the name, the love bond between daughter and mother," she said. "It's special because we do African cuisine, the hospitality we offer our customers, the [Senegalese] decorations and the friendly staff. From the waitresses to the owner to the chef, we are all friendly." In addition to serving traditional fare, like the Senegalese national dish chebujen, which consists of fish, vegetables and spices, the restaurant is a place where people can come and learn about Senegal. In fact, an in-house historian gives presentations about the artwork and instruments hanging on the walls and the sand paintings on each table so that customers can understand the culture behind the food they are eating. "The information that is given will be able to connect people with Senegal, its people and its culture," Munir-Diouf said. "A lot of the people that come to the restaurant have gone to Senegal so it's kind of a revisiting." Customer and former Philadelphia resident Desiree Mansell said that she had been trying to recreate the food she had eaten in Senegal and Ghana in her own kitchen but could not get the food to taste authentic. After dining at the restaurant in its past location about two years ago, she knew she had found the answer to her problem. Yesterday, during a visit to her home town, Mansell brought her mother along for lunch so that she too could enjoy the traditional African fare. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give them an 11," Mansell said. "The ambiance is wonderful, the food is wonderful, the service is wonderful and the prices are reasonable." Munir-Diouf added that customers traveling from as far away as Harrisburg, Pa. and Washington, D.C. have been impressed with the restaurant's flavorful food and large portions. Duff, who lives down the street from the restaurant, said that in addition to the "tender, flavorful" yassa chicken, the strawberry and ginger cocktail is not to be missed. Other diners said they appreciated the variety and uniqueness of the menu. "I think it's fantastic," said Doug Levandowski, a Brown University student and vegetarian who enjoyed his meal of peanut butter vegetables. "It's tasty and it's different from what I'm used to eating." Munir-Diouf said that this response has been common among the restaurant's patrons. "There was one man who came and when the food was presented to him, he just smiled and rocked back and forth like he was receiving a gift," she said.