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Smorgasbord
Belgian Brews and
African Stews
Lagosia brings the
flavors of Nigeria to Berkeley. Frejon ($6.95), a sweet and savory black
bean soup with a hint of coconut is, according to chef and co-owner Kofo
Domingo, a special-occasion food in the country of her birth; it takes
nine hours to cook. Hearty stews abound. The efo ($15.95) blends
spinach, tomatoes and spices; have it vegetarian or with beef, chicken
or goat meat. The egusi (melon seed stew, $15.95) is another Nigerian
specialty. For an extra $2 get a side dish of Lagosia’s iyan
(pounded-yam dumpling) or the eba (grated-cassava dumpling), both
authentic African alternatives to rice or potato.
Lagosia, 1725 University Ave., Tue.–Fri.; dinner 5 p.m.–10 p.m.
Tue.–Sat., 5 p.m.–9 p.m. Sun. (510) 540-8833, www.lagosia.com.
—By Wanda Hennig
Oakland Magazine, April
2008 Issue
Local Lagos
As a child in Lagos, Nigeria, Kofo Domingo was held spellbound by her
mother’s tales of elegant state dinners attended by her grandfather, a
member of the Lagosian royal family. Those stories inspired a passion
for food that finally found its expression in Lagosia, the new West
African restaurant in Berkeley that Domingo owns with her husband.
“About the time I turned 40 I figured I had a good 10 years of hustle
left,” laughs Domingo, who is also Lagosia’s head chef. “The restaurant
business demands long hours, but when you’re passionate about what you
do, it makes it easier.”
Lagosia’s cuisine, served in stylishly modern surroundings, attracts a
crowd of young hipsters and Bay Area foodies. Domingo, who attended
school and raised her children in the Bay Area, describes West African
food as “simple and hearty, with familiar ingredients that are blended
and cooked in a different way.”
“We have lots of international influences,” says Domingo. “Some of the
items are British staples like Scotch eggs and meat pies . . . and we
took the best of the British pastries.” The menu features vegetarian-
and meat-based stews and curries, burgers flavored with suya—a habañero-based
spice mixture—kebabs, tomato and peanut sauces and lots of plantains.
“We cook everything mild,” she adds, “and then ask [each customer] ‘how
much heat you can stand’ before preparing their dish.”
Lagosia West African Cuisine, 1725 University Avenue, Berkeley, (510)
540-8833; www.lagosia.com.
—Andrea Pflaumer
The Monthly Magazine,
March 2008 Issue
Make West African-style
beignets at home. Here to show us this recipe was Kofo Domingo, the
co-owner and Executive Chef of Lagosia Restaurant in Berkeley.
(Click here to watch the show) ABC 7 KGO San Francisco,
February 18, 2008
COOK'S NIGHT OUT: KOFO DOMINGO
...Immaculate
ingredients prepared carefully but not fussily are also characteristics
of her own cooking at Lagosia, the stylish West African restaurant she
started on Berkeley's lower University Avenue nearly 10 months ago.
The
restaurant venture melds two important facets of her life. The holder of
master's degree in business administration,
Domingo worked as a
contract analyst for the city of San Francisco, but had the age-old
entrepreneurial itch to own a business of her own - actually, their own,
since her husband is her partner and adviser and often test cooks new
recipes at home: "He's my quality control." Her sister, Abi Egbeyemi,
who has professional training in the hospitality industry, is her
manager.
The Domingos
have been a team for a long time: "We were high school sweethearts (in
Nigeria), and he was basically the reason I chose the United States for
college."
The other
driving force in her professional life has been food. She loved to hang
out in the family kitchen in Lagos and absorbed the principles of the
regional cooking, which leans heavily on the ready supply of seafood and
vegetables there. Her own restaurant mirrors West African culinary
principles, though occasional substitutions have to be made. There is a
popular Nigerian vegetable dish, efo stew, made with tomatoes and greens
not grown here, so she uses spinach purchased at her favorite source of
produce, Berkeley Bowl. The difference in taste, she says, is minimal.
To her
pleasant surprise, a West African favorite, goat meat, is proving
popular with her Berkeley clientele, as is classic Nigerian ground nut
stew. The latter is particularly favored by her extensive Asian
clientele. Apparently, she says, it bears similarity to some Filipino
and Vietnamese dishes. Her guests' ethnicity shows the mixture that was
a major factor in the Domingos' decision to stay in California after
college and raise their children - a son, now 19, and a daughter, 12 -
here. African Americans, while represented, are not a large part of her
dining public. Domingo
found the same to be true when she catered and sold West African foods
at farmers' markets before starting her restaurant. Fitting neither into
the mold of standard American food nor soul food of the American South,
her cooking appeals to well-traveled Californians and the many
food-forward culinary adventurers of the Bay Area, whatever their own
ethnic roots.
There is one
geographic group that has discovered Lagosia's cooking with relish:
diners of British background. British? Oh yes,
Domingo says.
Nigeria's long colonial history has left its mark on the national
cuisine.
"The British
do have a way with bread and pastries," she says, adding that she has a
hard time passing a British-style bakery without treating herself to
something. She includes on her menu such British treats as Scotch eggs,
wrapped sausages and meat pies. While not denying that the cooking of
the British Isles is generally not rated high on the international
radar, Domingo
says, "We Nigerians have picked and adopted the best Britain has to
offer."
San Francisco
Chronicle, Sunday, February 17, 2008
- Karola
Saekel
Kofo Domingo, a native of
Lagos, Nigeria, brings her native cuisine to a dining room decorated
with low light and African art. The West African expatriate community
flocks here for traditional stews made with such ingredients as
groundnuts (peanuts), melon seeds, palm oil, and tomatoes, as well as
for the family-friendly service. Beer, ginger beer, or South African
Sauvignon Blanc pair well with the heady fare. We loved decadent,
colonially influenced starters such as Scotch eggs—hard-boiled eggs
wrapped in sausage and deep fried—and sausage rolls wrapped in flaky
pastry. The jollof rice, a tomato-rich rice casserole paired with
grilled chicken, is deeply seasoned and comes with carefully prepared
seasonal vegetables. At dessert, star-shaped chocolate shortbread
cookies filled with mascarpone charm young and old. Lunch Tues.–Fri.,
dinner Tues.–Sun.
Diablo Magazine, November
2007
Lagosia a nice intro to Nigerian cuisine:
LeRhea O’Neal, born and raised in California — who also happens to be
newly married to a Nigerian — professionally pulled off a wad of gluey
iyan (pounded white yam), rolled it into a ball, flattened it with her
fingers and used it as a scoop for efo, a spinach and goat stew. I
dropped my knife and fork and did the same thing.
This single change in the delivery system expanded the flavor, texture
and tactile pleasure of eating the saucy, gently spicy dishes at
Lagosia, a handsome new West African restaurant in Berkeley.
I had many questions about Nigerian cooking after an initial lunch of
tasty groundnut (peanut) stew ($7.95) with a creamy, tomatoey,
thyme-scented sauce and juicy hunks of chicken with skin and bone,
served with white rice. Having never been to sub-Saharan Africa, I took
an experienced crew with me to dinner on the next visit.
We snacked on chin chin, little squares of crunchy, barely sweet pastry
scented with nutmeg, as we sipped versatile Golden Kaan Sauvignon Blanc
from South Africa ($31). Scotch eggs ($4), hard-boiled eggs encased in
ground sausage, deep fried, cut into wedges and served with a sweet
mayonnaise and mustard sauce disappeared in a flash…
San Francisco Examiner, July 26, 2007
-- Patricia Uterman
Continental
dining returns - one continent at a time
FOLLOWING the wave of new steakhouses and barbecue joints has been a
surge in international restaurant openings. So if that passport backlog
stranded you stateside this summer -- relax -- a drivers license is all
you need to indulge a world of flavor cravings.
Out of West Africa
Lagosia is ready to take your taste buds on a trip. Owner and executive
chef Kofo Domingo brings the flavors of her native Nigeria to University
Avenue in Berkeley. With its earthy brown decor and West African art,
Lagosia brings contemporary style to traditional favorites.
The menu starts with pepper soup served with a choice of beef, chicken,
or goat meat. Next comes a variety of fritters, stews, and kebabs.
Guests may finish their meal with a Puff-Puff, an African- style
beignet. Lagosia is also a destination for Scotch Eggs -- a boiled egg
wrapped in sausage and deep fried -- and other English favorites, a nod
to the Brits who once occupied Nigeria.
This is the first restaurant for the 42 year-old mother of two. "When I
turned 40, it was a time to rethink my life and to fulfill my dreams
that I had as child," Domingo says. "I figured I had about 15 'hustle
years' left and now was the time to open a restaurant."
Domingo learned to cook at the side of her mother, who filled her with
stories of the stately dinners she helped plan with her grandfather, the
King of Lagos for 15 years. The love of food remains a family affair as
Domingo's daughter and husband are often around. Her sister, Abi
Egbeyemi, runs the front of the house. Lagosia, 1725 University Ave.,
Berkeley, (510) 540-8833, http://
www.lagosia.com.
Oakland Tribune, Jul 18,
2007
-- Chrissa Ventrelle
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
AREA:
The Best of
Nigeria and the British Empire, Together Again
Lagosia is a complete and utter treasure. It’s pretty much the only spot
for an upscale presentation of genuinely great Nigerian food. If you
like Nigerian, you will love Lagosia. If you think you do not like
Nigerian, you will love Lagosia, says rworange. If you’re British and
you long for British food experiences, you will love Lagosia.
The restaurant interior is gorgeous; the food presentation very pretty.
And the manager and chef are both absurdly friendly. There’s a lot of
chef-coming-out-of-the-kitchen-to-chat-up-the-diners action going on.
Black bean soup is one of the best marlon has ever tried. It’s sweet and
smoky, and has been stewed for six hours. Pepper soup is very tasty, and
not too spicy. Groundnut stew is a thick tomato and peanut stew with
delicious chunks of perfectly poached chicken breast. It’s milder than
the versions that Food Dude is used to, but quite tasty nevertheless.
There is the bizarre and beautiful Scotch egg a hard-cooked egg that’s
been breaded and deep-fried. There is suya West African kebabs seasoned
with an excellently tasty spicy peanut rub, and served with raw red
onions. And mustard.
An order of plain puff-puff yields four tennis-ball-size beignets rolled
in powdered sugar and topped with raspberry and chocolate sauces.
rworange recommends chocolate puff-puff, which are plain puff-puffs
stuffed with hunks of chocolate. The interior chocolate gets all melty,
like a warm chocolate cookie. ksully415 says she’s related to the
executive chef, and has been eating her cooking at family parties for
years. She says you absolutely must get these puff-puffs, preferably
with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Slice the puff-puff, put the ice
cream inside, and eat the whole thing together.
There are a good number of Nigerians at the restaurant, but also a bunch
of non-Nigerians who have, according to the chef, been complaining about
the spice level. The chef has been thinking about toning down the
flavors. Be sure to try to persuade your server to give you the full,
un-Californianized Nigerian spice experience. In fact, says rworange,
just try to persuade the chef to keep the food un–dumbed down. It’s your
obligation as a Chowhound to preserve a gem like this in its full,
unblanded glory.
There’s also a good mixture of British and Euro items. There’s
spaghetti. They’re planning on offering real British meat pies soon, and
other British baked goods.
The Digest - Chowhounds Daily Roundup, Friday, July 6 at 5:10pm
-- C. Thi Nguyen |
West African in Berkeley
Berkeley's ethnic dining scene extended further last week when Lagosia,
a 110-seat West African restaurant, opened. Manager Abi Egbeyemi hails
from Nigeria, as does executive chef/co-owner Kofo Domingo. Her compact
opening menu focuses on regional stews, accompanied by dumplings made
from pounded yams or grated cassava, rice and fried plantains. The
decor, in subdued earth tones, is highlighted by ethnic art.
San Francisco Chronicle, June 27, 2007
-- Karola Saekel
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