A gust of cool air rushed into Spicy Water African Grill on 11th Street NW as a customer, Dionne, breezed through the front door of the new restaurant. “I went to Eastern Market and you weren’t there, so I came here to see if you were open,” she said cheerfully to the owner, Duraine Kouassi. Despite the 20 minute drive uptown between the Capitol Hill market and the U Street corridor, she said she had to get her half chicken combo.
“I had a craving. I could have gotten something else, but I knew if I didn’t like it I would’ve been upset and wished I came here anyway,” she says matter-of-factly.
Although Spicy Water African Grill just opened off the U Street corridor in January, Kouassi has been building a following since he opened up his Eastern Market stand in the summer of 2018. But his idea to serve Ivorian food goes back much further, to about 17 years ago.
Kouassi was born and raised in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, and when it came time to attend college, his mother, a successful businesswoman, asked him where he wanted to go. To her surprise, he decided on the United States — even though he didn’t know anyone here.
But Kouassi had traveled Europe in his youth and wanted to see something new. So he moved to New York to attend Hunter College — but after a few months, he realized New York City wasn’t quite right for him.
Kouassi made his way to D.C. where he worked several jobs, including as a bellman and security guard, before attending DeVry University. Subsequently, he earned a master’s degree from American University’s Kogod School of Business with a goal of pursuing real estate and eventually becoming a broker.
But all along, he had an entrepreneurial desire that he couldn’t shake. Since food was a huge part of his upbringing, he had this sense that his venture should be in food, but he wasn’t quite sure yet how.
During his early years in D.C., he noticed the preponderance of Peruvian chicken joints. He wondered if doing something similar, serving his family’s favorite chicken recipe in quarter, half or whole chicken portions served with two sides – similar to Peruvian restaurants — was a good way to introduce Americans to the grilling culture of West Africa.
Growing up, Kouassi and his brother would cook for their family of six on Sundays, ultimately falling in love with grilling in particular.
“The nightlife is crazy in my country. People don’t want to stay home, they just want to go out – and in Ivory Coast, you see people grilling in the street through the night. So you get that sense of smell everywhere,” he says. “That’s why I brought that big grill to Eastern Market. It reminded me of Africa.” The massive, mobile, 3-and-a-half-foot-tall by 6-foot-wide grill has become a familiar site outside the historic market on weekends, and at farmers markets around the region.
Kouassi also thought that starting with a grilled-chicken-and-sides model might be a better introduction to West African food than items like peanut butter soup, cassava stew, or fufu — a starchy swallow consumed with soup.
“Those traditional dishes appeal to African people or people who are familiar with Africa. But I wanted to appeal to people who have never tried our food and aren’t familiar with the components and ingredients. Grilling is something everybody understands, but I’m doing it the African way,” he said.
In fact, Spicy Water’s new home is converting a restaurant that used to serve another culture’s grilled specialities: the three-story building previously housed Charcoal Town Shawarma.
When you walk into the bright yellow Spicy Water space, you hear French-language afrobeats playing, engulfing the small first floor – which is mostly kitchen, a small register and just enough space in the window for a few people to sit.
In addition to the chicken, Spicy Water African Grill also serves beef and shrimp kabobs on sticks, in sandwiches and in salad bowls. You’ll also find a traditional Ivorian dish, attiéké — fermented cassava pulp — on the menu as a side to the proteins. And for vegetarians, there are meatless options. Prices range from $3.50 for sides up to $30 for a whole chicken with fries and a salad.
It’s mostly serving food for takeout for now; the second floor will open in the spring and seat around 22 people. Kouassi plans to make that area a full-service restaurant with table service and cocktails. It will also serve the other cultural foods he grew up with — and that his patrons more familiar with the continent have been asking for.
Despite his new home in the Shaw neighborhood, Kouassi doesn’t plan to abandon his stand at Eastern Market or the other farmer’s markets he’d come to frequent: Riverdale Park, Capital Harvest in downtown D.C. and SW Market. But he will scale down the presence, cooking on a smaller grill and serving only sandwiches and salads instead of quarter, half and whole grilled chickens.
In the middle of the interview, a guy with glasses walks in and looks around. “What should I get?” he asks Kouassi. The customer who shared his first name, Oliver, told DCist, “I liked the place that was here before and I was sad to see them leave. It’s nice to see a new business open in its place. I’m excited to try this,” he says before walking out with a chicken kabob sandwich.
Spicy Water African Grill is located at 2019 11th St. NW and is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 a.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. – 9 p.m.
