Mike and Elizabeth Bober, Y&H’s friends over at Capital Spice, were the ones to introduce me to the Gondar Fine Dining service at Almaz, the subject of this week’s column.

On their blog, the husband-and-wife team have posted a bite-by-bite break down of our dinner together at Almaz, and I think, between our two pieces, you get a good idea of what to expect with the Gondar service. Their recap, in particular, includes one moment that I had wanted to write about, too (but ran out of space!):

We made a tactical error when our servers came by to inquire about what we enjoyed most: we answered. In short order, we found ourselves facing another helping of each of our favorite dishes. Next time, we’ll know to keep quiet – or offer our compliments with an apology that we’re too full for seconds.

Read More “The Unusual Economics of Almaz’s Gondar Fine Dining Service” »

Meaza Zemedu, the restaurateur behind the well-regarded Meaza.

My next Young & Hungry column focuses on a new, formal Ethiopian service, which attempts to give diners a sense of the religious tenets that underline an Ethiopian Orthodox home meal. It’s a unique experience, and it has definitely put me in the mood for more injera-based food.

So I read with interest Restaurant Rater sweetpeachums‘ review of Meaza Ethiopian Cuisine and Cafe, one of Y&H’s personal faves. The commentary here speaks well of Meaza’s ability to appeal to newbies.

Sweetpeachum’s review is after the jump.

Read More “Vox Populi: Restaurant Rater sweetpeachums on Meaza” »

You likely know about kitfo, the finely chopped beef mixed with spiced Ethiopian butter and served with awaze or a berbere spice blend or fresh crumbled cheese. (Or perhaps all three at once.) If you’re lucky — and don’t look like a total Anglo wimp — the Ethiopian restaurant at which you’ve ordered kitfo will serve it to you raw. If you do look like a total Anglo wimp (and I’m looking at you in the mirror, my man), you will have to practically beg to have it served raw.

Kitfo, of course, isn’t the only raw meat offered in Ethiopian cooking (or non-cooking). There’s also tere saga, sometimes known as kurt, but that is much harder to find in U.S. Ethiopian restaurants. I’ve only seen it at Abay Market and Meaza. But back in Ethiopia, tere sega is considered a traditional ceremonial dish, often seen at weddings.

I mention these two dishes as prelude to a question I hadn’t thought about until this week: Why do Ethiopians eat so much raw meat? The question was raised to me by Jabriel Ballentine, a native of the Virgin Islands who’s doing some consulting work for Almaz on U Street.  He knew the answer.

Read More “Why Do Ethiopians Eat So Much Raw Meat?” »

Meaza Zemedu at her namesake restaurant

One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

Because the Ethiopian community has historically been tied to the District, whether in Adams Morgan or the U Street corridor, the suburbs typically get overlooked as a source for fine injera-based food. Yet I can’t escape the simple fact that Meaza is often far superior to the restaurants on that strip of 9th Street NW known as Little Ethiopia. There’s a reason for that, and her name is Meaza Zemedu, a veteran restaurateur who, for years, supplied homemade injera to every Ethiopian eatery that mattered in D.C. She still makes her own injera at her namesake restaurant, including an all-teff version, which has basically disappeared at most Ethiopian eateries. But her place has many other pleasures besides these spongy sour pancakes. First among equals is a sizzling platter of beef-rib tibs, all charred meat and veggies, which is essentially the Ethiopian version of fajitas. But don’t overlook Meaza’s doro wat, either, a covered pot of chicken that’s been simmered in a sauce as dark and complex as Oaxacan mole. Finally, a version of Ethiopia’s national dish that lives up to its lofty title.

 Meaza Ethiopian Cuisine and Cafe, 5700 Columbia Pike, Arlington, (703) 820-2870

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Each day, for the next few weeks, we’ll run through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us how your meal went when you return.

Abol occupies a modest storefront along Colesville Road in Silver Spring, just across the street from the AFI Silver. Through the windows, you can see that the softly lit interior is more inviting than the average Ethiopian joint in D.C.—more Etete than, say, Awash. But it’s only after you grab a table and the food starts arriving that you realize how special Abol is. You’ll notice it before your first bite. The kitchen doesn’t just dump its stews and tibs and kitfo onto a large oval of injera and slap it down in front of you, as if it were just another trough of comestibles in which everything melds into one indiscriminate Ethiopian food wad. The cooks plate their dishes in elegant white bowls and trays, accompanied with a basket or two of rolled-up injera. Presentation, however, gets you only so far, a point well understood by the husband-and-wife team behind Abol. Their vegetarian platter includes not only the sweetest yefasolia you’ll ever taste but also something I’ve never seen before on Ethiopian menus: beets and potatoes sautéed in oil, garlic, and ginger, which are unbelievably good. The servers, to their credit, will even take you at your word when you say you prefer kitfo rare and hot. They’ll bring you a bowl of raw atomic beef that is, by no means, for the faint of heart.

Abol, 8626 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, (301) 650-0061

I’ll admit it: Starbucks is often my default morning cup, and I’ll tell you why. It’s convenient. You can’t throw a Hear Music compilation CD without bonking some barista over-extracting your espresso. I mean, before the recession hit, I think they were planning to open a Starbucks in my dog’s crate.

Not that I totally subscribe to the Starbucks as Evil Coffee Empire theory. I actually love the Pike Place Blend, even if it’s roasted too dark to fully taste the beans that go into the coffee. But, really, who wants to be a corporate shill?

Not me, which is why I still like seeking out local coffee houses, though that’s becoming harder since they’re dying faster than daily newspapers and independent bookstores. But this weekend, I tripped upon Shagga Coffee and Restaurant in Hyattsville, which peddles a concise menu of Ethiopian dishes and sells dark, sweet cups of Harrar coffee. (Incidentally, Todd Kliman over at the Washingtonian reports that Shagga, which sounds like Austin Powers’ favorite coffee shop, should actually be spelled Shegga, which apparently means “good” or “beautiful” in Amharic. Stupid sign makers.)

Read More “Good Ethiopian Coffee Now in Hyattsville” »

It just came to my wandering attention that News Channel 8 followed up on the Washington Post’s recent story about how the sagging economy and the city’s new meter system have affected cabbies and their ability to, essentially, subsidize the local Ethiopian restaurant community. At first I was sympathetic to this issue; but after supping at Etete, on a Monday night no less, when both levels of the joint were overflowing with customers, I’m thisclose to calling bullshit on the theory.

But I won’t. For one reason:

Read More “Are Ethiopian Eateries Really Hurting Because of the New Cab Meters?” »