The Ghanaian grubbery finds a new home

When you're staging a comeback, you've got to adapt to new circumstances, like a pitcher using a curveball after losing his youthful heat, or a Jerry O'Connell, using his handsomeness after losing his youthful meat. Adapting for a culinary comeback: Ghana Cafe.

A brick-walled 100-seater with booths, chairs, and bartop covered in traditional handmade "Kente" patterns, this Logan Circle spot is the reincarnation of the closed AdMo institution; due to zoning, they're shifting from live-music/dance-bar to a more sedate sit-down where you can still drink 'til you feel like everything's gyrating. In keeping with the tweaked mission, the expanded menu packs in a haul of new seafood, including shrimp, salmon, and lobster all cooked in "Ghana Cafe Sauce" (a Harris-Teeter/Whole Foods - carried recipe w/ tomatoes and Ghanaian mystery herbs); as well as old favorites like the spiced, soft-plantain "Kelewele"; beef or chicken khebobs w/ jollof, rice, or plantain; and a plantain bean stew named "Red Red" by Peace Corps workers in Ghana, who lacked the green green to afford anything else. In addition to 5 wines (Africa to Cali), and 7-odd standby beers (Red Stripe to Sierra Nevada), they've got 7 African imports including Star and Culden (Ghana), Zambezi (Zimbabwe) and Castle (Cameroon), all avail in 22oz bottles the owner calls "the biggest beers in town" (just wait 'til the 40oz Lobby hears about this).

For an adventure of the mind and digestive system, be sure to ask at the bar for their unlisted mystery cocktail, the "Kill Me Quick" -- a tempting option for child stars whose once-cute fatness insists on standing by them.