Dressing Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar to Win “Best Restaurant of South USA 2026”

When Dakar NOLA was named World’s 50 Best’s No. 4 in North America and Best Restaurant: South USA 2026, the moment called for something more personal than a classic tuxedo.

The ceremony was hosted here in New Orleans, which made the recognition feel especially meaningful. Dakar’s work is deeply rooted in this city, but it also reaches far beyond it: Senegalese cuisine in conversation with South Louisiana, told with care, depth, and originality.

Our relationship with Serigne and Dakar began before the ceremony. As the restaurant prepared for its new location, we designed custom shirts for the staff and spent an afternoon with the team for a bow tie class. Like everything at Dakar, the details needed to feel intentional: polished, warm, and rooted in his restaurant’s point of view.

So when it came time to dress Serigne for the ceremony, it felt less like a one-off look and more like part of a larger conversation about how Dakar presents itself to the world.

Serigne typically wears more traditional Senegalese garments, so this was his first time stepping into a more European formal look. We wanted to honor that shift without making him feel disconnected from himself. The foundation was classic: black wool trousers, a crisp white shirt, mother-of-pearl studs, and a handmade-in-Italy black bow tie.

But the jacket was the story.

Cut in a cream Ariston fabric with a woven texture and golden-mustard bouclé throughout, it had the structure of formalwear with the warmth of something more personal. The color felt sunlit, spiced, and celebratory. The dramatic peak lapel gave it presence, while the fabric nodded subtly to the depth and warmth of Serigne’s food without becoming literal.

That is what custom clothing can do when it works. It can honor the codes of an occasion while still leaving room for the person inside it. We were honored to design this look for Serigne for the evening, and to be trusted with the details around it: the jacket, the shirts, the bow ties, the preparation, the small rituals before the big ones.

Congratulations, Chef. It was an honor to play a small part.