Teranga

Pierre Thiam opened Teranga on the ground floor of The Africa Center in February 2019. That room served its last day on 15 June 2025.1 2 One counter still trades, at 601 Lexington Avenue inside The Hugh. Order the jollof. It is built on fonio.3 4

Why go

Fonio is an old West African grain, and Thiam sells it through his own food company, Yolele. Jollof is usually rice in a spiced tomato broth. Here the grain underneath is fonio.1 The whole menu is gluten-free. Thiam set the terms himself in 2019: We believe that African flavors presented in a fast-casual setting are a great fit for New Yorkers' sophisticated palates.1

Thiam is credited with introducing West African cooking to fine dining.2 He also runs Nok by Alara in Lagos and the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar.2 Brooklyn Brewery brews a fonio pale ale with him. He bottles the tomato sauce behind the jollof and sells it as Jamm Jamm.3

Order this / avoid

Order: the jollof. Fonio sits where the rice would, under the spiced tomato.1
Order: the fonio salad, which in 2019 came with beets, spicy pickled carrots and pomegranate.1
Order: bissap to drink with it.
Avoid: going uptown for the Africa Center room. I have not found a bylined piece describing the Midtown counter's food.

What locals & experts say

The kitchen, announcing the Harlem closing on Instagram and quoted by Time Out on 4 June 2025: Thank you to everyone who shared a cup of Ethiopian coffee, a bottle of Bissap, a plate of hot Jollof and Suya, or a side of Kelewele with us.2
Time Out gave Thiam's super bowls of jollof and his salmon entrees four stars.2
Thiam, on his own sourcing: the kitchen highlights ancient, nutrient-dense crops cultivated in Africa for centuries, sourced from smallholder farmers and local producers.3

Good to know

Which door: this page is 601 Lexington Avenue, the only New York address the operator lists.3
Who cooks: Pierre Thiam is co-founder and executive chef.4
Take it home: the jollof sauce is bottled and sold separately.3

Verdict

could-visit — Check the trading days before you cross town, because the counter and the building publish different ones. Order at the counter and carry it out.