We’re just a few bites into a second course at the sleek new Elmina in Washington when our server acknowledges our smiles with a grin and a cry. “Slap your momma, right?” he fairly shouts ...

Called "São Jorge da Mina" (Saint George's of the mine), or simply "Elmina" (the mine), it was the first permanent structure south of the Sahara built by Europeans -- and for centuries it was the ...