Elegant Cuizines: Richmond’s Best West African Fine Dining
I celebrated my thirtieth birthday for two weeks and regained five of the pounds I had lost, but we aren’t here to discuss that, okay? Okay.
My cousin had been raving about Elegant Cuizines, so by my birthday, I felt like this was the only place to celebrate, and man was that an incredible decision. I can assure you that you will not find better West African food in Richmond than Elegant Cuizines.
Elegant Cuizines is a completely dairy-free restaurant that also caters to the vegan and gluten free communities. Chef Headen’s recipes are vegetable heavy and soy, salt, and sugar free. If you’re thinking no to all of that, rethink your presumptions. Immediately. This collection of dishes will outmatch some of your most coveted favorites from any other restaurant and on top of that, will be infinitely healthier for you. Aside from outstanding, innovative flavors, the plating of every dish is absolutely gorgeous.
The restaurant is run completely by Chef Theresa Headen and her husband Charles, who are the loveliest people you could ever meet. By now, they know my cousins’ names, a testament to their love of community.
I highly encourage you to explore their website and menu to see exactly what you’re getting yourself into, but I’ll also share everything I had in hopes that you’ll be inspired to visit Elegant Cuizines off the strength of my recommendations.
Let’s start with drinks, shall we? If there are all-natural fruit drinks on a menu, I will never turn them down. In fact, I may just order two like I did at Elegant Cuizines. I had both the Purple Mist (Ginger, lime juice, pineapple juice, hibiscus) and the Strawberry Paradise (strawberry, lemon juice, pineapple juice) that were equally delicious as they were refreshing.
Not only did I order two drinks, but I also ordered two starters. Now I’m sure you see why I gained five pounds over the last two weeks.
For my first starter, I had the Curried Vegan Calamari which is made of king oyster mushrooms with house-made marinara sauce. The first thing I’ll say is that this dish singlehandedly made me like marinara sauce. Secondly, the calamari was as tasty as it was beautifully plated with vibrant flower and fruits that make you question whether you just want to admire the food in front of you or dive in.
I dove in, just in case you weren’t sure.
One of the things I loved most about every dish I ordered was just how much flavor was present. As someone who is not vegan, gluten free, or dairy free, I easily forgot about those labels, which, to me, is a marker of well-rounded dishes, no matter what ingredients are or are not present.
For my second starter, I had the vegan and gluten free Roasted Jerk Brussels Sprouts, made with olive oil, Chef Headen jerk spice, and served with sweet and spicy chili sauce. I am absolutely a lover of Brussels sprouts, but even more so when they are drizzled in a delicious sauce. The combination of sweet and spicy is dangerously good when done right, and believe me, Chef Headen gets it right.
To be honest, I was stuffed after the starters, but why would I let that stop me from experiencing the gluten free Suya Lamb Chops? They are made with suya spice and garlic, making for the perfect gastro experience. For my sides, I had the vegan and gluten free Jollof Rice (corn, green beans, carrot, onion) and mashed vegan and gluten free Eddoe, a dish similar to mashed potatoes.
My cousin ordered the gluten free, vegan Garlic Butter Palava Vegan Chicken made with palava spice, garlic, and oyster mushrooms (or cauliflower). I had a taste of this wonderful dish as well, again forgetting that it was not, in fact, chicken that I was eating, but oyster mushrooms that disguise so well as really whatever meat or fish you want them to be.
The biggest and most lovely surprise of all was the vegan Biscoff Dessert Shake made of biscoff cookies, vegan heavy cream and powdered sugar. Mr. Headen alerted Chef Theresa that it was my birthday, and she personally brought out a this dessert shake for not just me, but for the people I was with. It truly warmed my heart and was the deliciously perfect period to an already excellent dining experience.
