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Husband- and- wife-owned eatery serves silverware-optional Ethiopian fare in the shadow of Sony Studios. >>more
LA City Beat
Desert Island Cuisine -
Fassica offers a flavorful-to-fiery array of authentic Ethiopian food
by Richard Foss
As Darwin noted, the isolation of islands allows everything to develop to extremes, to specialize and differentiate. Over the eons, as humans and nature experiment, culture, as well as flora and fauna, becomes interesting and baroque.
Not all islands are surrounded by water. Ethiopia is an island in the middle of a continent - a mountainous, mostly temperate place surrounded by deserts. As with other islands, crops and critters that are unknown elsewhere evolved there, as did a proudly self-sufficient culture - and a cuisine that made the best of all ingredients. Ethiopian food has hints of the Middle Eastern and Indian traders who journeyed to the remote kingdom then known as Abyssinia, but at the heart of it are elements found nowhere else.
One great place to experience Ethiopian cooking is Fassica, a 12-table restaurant in Culver City. The tiny place is easily missed, and the plain interior hardly hints at the cultural wealth of Ethiopia, but it's the dining spot of choice for many expatriates, always a good sign for ethnic establishments.
We were welcomed by Sebel Asfaw, Fassica's cheerful owner and chef, who volunteered to explain any unfamiliar dishes. This was hardly necessary, as Fassica has an unusually well-written menu with plenty of description, but we appreciated the offer. Two of us decided to share a combination plate ($22), while the third selected Yebeg Tibs ($8.95), lamb sautéed with butter, onions, spices, and hot peppers. We briefly considered an appetizer of vegetarian sambusas (flaky pastry turnovers), but the large Ethiopian party that had preceded us had snapped up every one. >>more
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Owner
Sebel Asfaw