By Hannah Wente | Photography by Hillary Schave
Awa Sibi followed her brothers and uncle to Madison at age 22. Like many immigrants, she yearned for the food she grew up eating in the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in West Africa. She began cooking for African immigrants out of her student apartment.
“If you’re homesick, you need your food,” explains Sibi. “I was [cooking] for everyone — friends, brothers and cousins.” In August 2018, Sibi launched Les Délices de Awa, a catering business. After starting her business, she got divorced, making her a single parent again to her son (with a previous partner), who has cerebral palsy. Sibi and her son moved into a shelter for domestic violence survivors where they lived for three months. Despite these struggles, she kept her vision firmly on maintaining her livelihood. Fast-forward a few years, and Sibi met with mentors from the Together We Build Program, a private donor fund established through the Urban League of Greater Madison, who helped her apply for a loan to open her restaurant in 2024. “[That] was the best day of my life,” she says. “I relived all of the pain I went through. I feed myself through this pain. I’ve been through the trauma of domestic abuse and divorce — but it got me pumped to go do the next best thing.”
In her newly-opened Atwood Avenue spot, many of the dishes on her menu are inspired by street vendors who sold food outside of her school when she was growing up, and by her mom. Her favorite dish on the menu is attiéké (also called acheke), an Ivorian side dish made with cassava; and Thieboudienne, a complex Senegalese/Gambian fish, rice and vegetable dish.
She’s always amazed at the people who linger after a meal, because the place brings comfort to them. It brings joy to Sibi as well.
“We haven’t made it yet,” she says. “But I built it — I was part of every decision. This is comfort and this is home.”
Les Délices de Awa will also be participating in the Madison Black Chamber’s Black Restaurant Week, taking place this year from Aug. 11-18.
