Field Trip to awesome restaurant: Le Grand Dakar!

" Today I visited Le Grand Dakar, an West African inspired restaurant owned by Chef Pierre Thiam, located in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It was an amazing experience. I felt as if I was actually tasting a piece of Africa. It felt beautiful. Chef Pierre Thiam showed us, the TIC interns a demo of how to create a rice grain salad. I say his idea was brilliant! I’m not a very big fan of African food but leaving that restaurant today changed my mind. I was inspired by his work and his story. He actually came to the United States on a student visa for college, to study chemistry while studying in college he worked in many different Restaurants in NYC. That’s where he found his love and appreciation for food. Thank you chef Pierre Thiam for everything and I can say that we all had a great time!" - Molly

"The field trip was a lot of fun. I found the restaurant to be very unique because it had all these statues and pictures from Africa. I thought it was awesome that Pierre came from a hometown where cooking wasn't a male profession but that didn't stop him from pursuing his passion. I even had a African drink that tasted sweet yet sour at the end and enjoyed it very much. Pierre even taught us about a grain known as "fonio". The grain was very crunchy and went great with the salad he prepared for us. He even had a book published of all his recipes and photos of family. It was nice to know that even though cooking was Pierre's profession, he still gave back to the people of Africa and never forgot where he came from and remembered it when he made all his meals." - Sira

Going to visit Pierre Thiam's restaurant was really exciting. I am one of those types of people that likes to listen to people's story and his story was amazing. I really liked the restaurant and the things he does to help his culture come out. Not a lot of people know about African food and there are not many African restaurants here in New York. The location he chose was really good. I really got to learn more about how food really needs to have passion from a person in order for it to please people. I never really understood the gathering of friends and family and a person cooking for them until he explained it. The salad he made was delicious and something I have never tasted. I love to taste new things and going to meet him and see his restaurant was a wonderful experience. - Kristie