The Best Fashion Week Moment Wasn’t On The Runway—It Was At A Dinner Table

4 days ago 22

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Atop a rooftop known as Brooklyn Grange Farm, overlooking the dreamiest views of the Manhattan skyline, Chef Tayo, founder and chef of the Ebi-Ayo Supper Club, put on a dinner party to end all other dinner parties. His events bring out the stars, from Lupita Nyong’o to Law Roach and more, so clearly, he knows what he’s doing.

Hosted at the beginning of New York Fashion Week, a time when the who’s who in entertainment, media, and content creation touch down on the city to celebrate the latest collections and honor sartorial greatness, Chef Tayo partnered with Hennessy for a night he called Made for the Moment. The idea was to bring together people who help produce cultural moments, from creatives to journalists, influencers, and distinct voices, to enjoy a family-style dinner. Pass plates, make connections, and relish community. For Chef Tayo, “village mentality,” as he calls it, means everything, and it inspires his popular Ebi-Ayo gatherings.

“America has this ‘me, me, me’ mentality. It’s never we,” he shared as the event began. “My Nigerian roots, we’re a community, and we think as a village. We have a village mentality. Whatever country I go to in this world, it’s always that same element of my Nigerian roots of community and family, but by the time I come back to America, it’s just only myself. That’s how people really think. So I started Ebi-Ayo Supper Club to really create an environment that allows folks to build meaningful relationships and deeper connections through food.”

And with the curated courses, a fusion of Nigerian flavors with tastes inspired by Chef Tayo’s travels around the world, guests had plenty of time to make those connections. The night began with Yam-Plantain Lamb Sopes, featuring roasted lamb seasoned with Suya spices atop a small plantain bowl, then topped with chimichurri and pickled red onion. The flavors, inspired by Mexico, were rich, preparing mouths for the variety of tastes to come.

Following that, servers brought out the Chicken & Egusi Puff Pastry. They were my favorite of the night. Inspired by French pastries, the creation included beurre blanc (butter), caviar, fresh herbs, and, of course, egusi, which is ground melon seeds. The pastries were baked perfectly, and the caviar added an extra kick to the flavors.

Afterward, we tried the Lobster Jollof Risotto, giving Italian vibes. The risotto was covered in jollof-spiced tomato sauce, cooked in palm oil, and sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano, an authentic Parmesan. It was quite delectable.

The Garri and Herb-Crusted Branzino came out next, an ode to Brazilian flavors. It involved toasted cassava flour and a roasted tomato-coconut moqueca reduction. The liquid added a wonderful flavor to the fish, which I quickly finished—and I’m not even a fish lover, o.

And lastly, we concluded the evening with a Caribbean-meets-Nigerian dessert: Spiced Banana Bread. It was made with coconut rum pudding and served next to a dollop of raspberry hibiscus jam. It was a delicious combination. (My recommendation would be to add a side of vanilla bean ice cream if you really want to lose yourself.)

Each meal was also served with a cocktail from Hennessy. From a Henny-Rita at the start of dinner to my personal favorite, the refreshing Hennessy de Coco (Hennessy V.S.O.P., coconut water, guava, pineapple juice, lime juice and simple syrup—try it!). They were the perfect drinks to toast with.

As each plate came out, as Chef Tayo told us, the food showed the similarities we share: the foods we’ve loved in our lives, the ones we haven’t, and the experiences they evoke in our memories. I learned so much about the individuals sitting around me, from the work they do to the upbringings they’ve had near and far, and much more. And as someone with Nigerian roots (fun fact: My mom is from Texas, my dad is an Edo man born in Benin City), I was able to speak to what certain things were, how Naija folks enjoy having them, and I could think back to some of my favorite experiences with some of the flavors. Like eating Suya wrapped in newspaper in Lagos, or eating the best jollof at a day-long funeral celebration in my dad’s hometown.

Overall, Chef Tayo had it right. If there’s something that brings people together, it’s good food. Whether it’s a loved one asking “se o ti jeun,” which means “Have you eaten?” in Yoruba, or gathering the city’s creative minds in one gorgeous room to eat, drink, and laugh over a soundtrack of Afrobeats tunes, breaking bread breaks down walls. Hence the reason his Ebi-Ayo Supper Club’s name means “family” and “joy.”