Hedzole DC – Ghanaian Restaurant In Washington DC Serves Jollof, Waakye & Coconut Rice

Hedzole DC is a Ghanaian restaurant in Washington, D.C. in the United States of America run by U.S.-born Ghanaian Candice Mensah.

Hedzole serves on its menu Jollof Rice, Waakye & Coconut rice with a series of assorted sauces and toppings.

The restaurant is located in Sixteenth Street Heights, a large neighbourhood in the District of Columbia.

Hedzole started as a concept in 2019 when Candice Mensah debuted it at the Taste of Springfield food festival, the culmination of a lifelong dream.

Due to receiving positive feedback, she continued selling after the festival, this time at the Northern Virginia farmers markets, where she gained a die-hard following.

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Her next move was to Urbanspace then in April 2023, she opened her brick and mortar in Sixteenth Street Heights.

What is the menu of Hedzole DC?

Hedzole DC has on its menu a raft of Ghanaian / West African dishes reflecting the background of founder Candice Mensah, who is originally from Accra, Ghana.

Meals include – Jollof rice, waakye or coconut rice with a choice of sauce ranging from tomato gravy, spinach stew thickened with ground agushi (melon) seeds, shito (spicy pepper sauce), or jerk barbecue sauce. 

Washingtoncitypaper notes the meal can be crowned with options including: “baked chicken seasoned with adobo, baked garlic herb salmon, or oxtail stewed for three and a half hours, its rich sauce pepped with cloves. Side dishes include peanut-minded groundnut soup, served with a starchy, dumpling-like ball of fufu forged from casava and plantain that can be used as an edible utensil; fried plantains; and chili-vibed red red stew made with black-eyed peas,”

Aside from meat, everything prepared at Hedzole is vegan.

Who is Candice Mensah?

Candice Mensah is a Ghanaian-American chef who runs the D.C based restaurant Hedzole ( meaning freedom in Ga).

She was born in 1978 in the United States by two Ghanaian immigrants, both hailing from Accra.

Candice was born on 16th Street NW but moved to Alexandria as a child.

From a young age, she knew she wanted to run her own restaurant and learned the fundamentals of cooking from her Ghanaian mother.

However, once she grew up, her parents were not too enthused with the idea and steered her away from running her own business into other pursuits. She ended up working in the health-care information technology industry for 20 years.

When she turned 40, Candice Mensah finally decided to chase her dream. She quit her job and started taking steps to fulfil her lifelong dream.

“I felt like I was just floating: not really inspired, not challenged in the right way,” she told the Washington City paper.

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Following a series of early moves, she eventually opened Hedzole in Sixteenth Street Heights.

The interior of Hedzole is decorated with bright splashes of colourful Ghanaian fabrics and a neon sign on the wall proclaims “Chop Life,”.

“This is not the definitive West African experience, but I wanted to give folks a flavor of what you might encounter having West African food,” Candice Mensah said.

Candice joins a line of West Africans running restaurants in the D.C area including Takoma Park’s Mansa Kunda, Chez Dior in Hyattsville, and Appioo African Bar & Grill, Moi Moi, Bukom Café, and Spicy Water African Grill.

Hedzole is on Instagram @hedzole

Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com