This one-of-a-kind restaurant is now expanding to downtown Durham
From the outset, Zweli’s made its mark. The Durham restaurant opened in 2018, billing itself as the country’s only Zimbabwean restaurant.
The menu of piri piri chicken, peanut butter collards and jollof rice developed a legion of fans, who sought out its original strip mall location off of U.S. 15-501.
Now Zweli’s is ready to expand, as married owners Leonardo and Zweli Williams pick downtown Durham’s American Tobacco Campus for their latest project, Zweli’s Ekhaya.
It is named after the Bantu word for home. Zimbabwe-born co-owner and chef Zweli Williams said “Ekhaya” sets the tone for the restaurant’s plan for hospitality.
“Ekhaya in Bantu is more than a word, it is a feeling, a sense of being ‘at home’ wherever you are,” Zweli Williams said in a release. ”These feelings of comfort, support, and familiarity are what we strive to bring to each diner via our menu and dining experience. Whether it is something brand new or a new take on something familiar, we want each and every visitor to leave our restaurant feeling as if they have returned home.”
Tapas-style dishes
With Ekhaya, the Williams say they plan to serve Bantu fusion, with a menu of tapas-style dishes. The restaurant will move into the former Saladelia space and is expected to open in 2022 with a new outdoor patio.
The couple met in college at N.C. Central University. Zweli worked in restaurants for years and Leonardo Williams, a former Durham teacher, liquidated his retirement account to help open a restaurant of their own. He won a Durham City Council seat on Tuesday.
When the Williamses talk about the comfort they hope to bring to their new restaurant, it’s something they have a history of creating. In his glowing three-and-a-half star review, former News & Observer dining critic Greg Cox said Zweli’s was like dining at a familiar table.
“Zweli’s is clearly a labor of love,” Cox wrote in 2019. “The Williamses built many of the furnishings in the colorful shoestring budget dining room themselves, and decorate the place with local art. That spirit has extended to the staff. If it’s possible to feel at home in a restaurant while eating a cuisine you’ve never had before, this is it.”
Remaking the American Tobacco food scene
Ekhaya will join a new group of restaurants looking to remake the dining scene at the American Tobacco Campus. Boricua Soul, a popular Southern and Caribbean food truck, launched its first brick and mortar at ATC just before the pandemic, then expanded across the street as a vendor for Durham Bulls games.
Graham-based coffee shop Press opened a new location on the campus this summer, pandemic pop-up Queenburger plans to open a brick and mortar there next year and Parker and Otis relocated its popular cafe and coffee shop to ATC last year.
“We’ve had the very fortunate opportunity to work with dozens and dozens of restaurateurs and thousands of entrepreneurs at the American Tobacco Campus and American Underground,” Adam Klein, ATC director, said in a release.
“Zweli and Leo represent the best of Durham. They are creative, committed, caring, and, most importantly, community-focused. We’re honored that they chose to share their journey with us and take part in ours.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 11:56 AM with the headline "This one-of-a-kind restaurant is now expanding to downtown Durham."
