Yummy Changes
Change, as I'm discovering in my mini-adventures about this new-old DC, is not an entirely bad thing. It's especially wonderful when an old rowhouse on 9th street into the delicious Etete, an Ethiopian restaurant in the emergent Little Ethiopia (9th and V Streets).
Ethiopian cuisine is already a weekly ritual and mutually satisfying compromise for my meat cravings and her commitment to vegetables and fish. For the past couple of weeks, we'd been frequenting a place I've grown to dislike. Poor service, cold ambience, okay food. No honeywine. Time to find a new place.
I took a hint from a great review in the Post and walked to the glass window of Etete, and looked into skepticism.
For me, delicious Ethiopian is served on wicker ottoman style chairs, an equally low wicker table, and beneath pictures of Jesus and Haile Selassie I. Etete drastically diversges from the traditional, and embraces a modern decor. Consistent with the shot-gun style of the rowhouse, sleek straight-backed leather chairs and a maroon bench run the length of the dining room.The flat-screened television accentuates the bar area. Hmmm, doro wat or buffalo wings?
Absolutely doro wat, among other delights on the focused menu. We began with a salty-flaky-yummy lentil sambusa. I can only imagine how good the beef version is. The carafe of honey wine filled my glass at least twice, and christened the beginning of a succulent Friday dinner of lamb, fish and vegetables.
The moment the waitress began to spoon lamb onto our dish--a disappointingly boring silver tray--I knew it would be fantastic. The sauce was a rich reddish brown color with a slight film of oil on the surface. Chunks of juicy lamb bob around the spoon. Excuse me, I'm about to eat the entire dish.
Katrina worked around the side of the dish with the vegetables--cabbage, greens, corn, carrots, and something red I can't ever identify--and fish. Of that selection, the cabbage, greens and corn were the highlights. Though a generous portion that fills a to-go box, the fish was a bit less than flavorful.
As for the ambience, eating at Etete is like sitting at a Thanksgiving Day table. Conversation volume varied from raging to intimate. Luckily, Kat and I arrived early did most of our talking before the crowd arrived (including a ridiculously loud dude two tables down. Was his dinner partner not just 24 inches in front of him?).
Just as we were leaving, Etete--a sweet woman after whom her sons named the restaurant--emerged from the kitchen to greet patrons and take a well deserved break at the bar. Don't sit too long, Miss Etete. I'm coming back for my beef sambusa.
A link to a dated but informative article on Ethiopian food from the Washingtonian. http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/ethiopian.html
Ethiopian cuisine is already a weekly ritual and mutually satisfying compromise for my meat cravings and her commitment to vegetables and fish. For the past couple of weeks, we'd been frequenting a place I've grown to dislike. Poor service, cold ambience, okay food. No honeywine. Time to find a new place.
I took a hint from a great review in the Post and walked to the glass window of Etete, and looked into skepticism.
For me, delicious Ethiopian is served on wicker ottoman style chairs, an equally low wicker table, and beneath pictures of Jesus and Haile Selassie I. Etete drastically diversges from the traditional, and embraces a modern decor. Consistent with the shot-gun style of the rowhouse, sleek straight-backed leather chairs and a maroon bench run the length of the dining room.The flat-screened television accentuates the bar area. Hmmm, doro wat or buffalo wings?
Absolutely doro wat, among other delights on the focused menu. We began with a salty-flaky-yummy lentil sambusa. I can only imagine how good the beef version is. The carafe of honey wine filled my glass at least twice, and christened the beginning of a succulent Friday dinner of lamb, fish and vegetables.
The moment the waitress began to spoon lamb onto our dish--a disappointingly boring silver tray--I knew it would be fantastic. The sauce was a rich reddish brown color with a slight film of oil on the surface. Chunks of juicy lamb bob around the spoon. Excuse me, I'm about to eat the entire dish.
Katrina worked around the side of the dish with the vegetables--cabbage, greens, corn, carrots, and something red I can't ever identify--and fish. Of that selection, the cabbage, greens and corn were the highlights. Though a generous portion that fills a to-go box, the fish was a bit less than flavorful.
As for the ambience, eating at Etete is like sitting at a Thanksgiving Day table. Conversation volume varied from raging to intimate. Luckily, Kat and I arrived early did most of our talking before the crowd arrived (including a ridiculously loud dude two tables down. Was his dinner partner not just 24 inches in front of him?).
Just as we were leaving, Etete--a sweet woman after whom her sons named the restaurant--emerged from the kitchen to greet patrons and take a well deserved break at the bar. Don't sit too long, Miss Etete. I'm coming back for my beef sambusa.
A link to a dated but informative article on Ethiopian food from the Washingtonian. http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/ethiopian.html
posted by Rhonda Henderson at 5:07 PM
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