Village Voice
''... Our dishes are traditionally eaten by hand," reads the menu. So begins the dining experience at this Upper West Side Ethiopian where the food comes to the table heaped on soft folds of injera. The slightly sour-tasting crepe is prepared with tef and makes my tongue happy. Glance around at the handsome woven tables of the traditional seating area, then order up some yemisir kik wat, pureed split-red lentils cooked in a fiery berbere sauce. Sip a bit of honey wine or a slug of Zambezi, a Zimbabwean beer. Don't miss the vegetarian combination, which includes yellow and brown lentils; beets, potatoes, and carrots; string beans and carrots; incendiary berbere; and, if you're lucky, some of the fantastic greens known as gomen. ..." >>more
The Soul of a New Cuisine - By Lolis Eric Elie
Gourmet 2000
''The future of cooking, Marcus Samuelsson will tell you, is personal. Soon, we will stop boxing great chefs into narrow ghettos of national or ethnic cuisine. What will emerge is an era of "personal cuisine," he says, in which cooking will be defined by all of a chef's influences.
...Although Samuelsson has a personal agenda, this is a working trip for him as well. He feels that it's time to learn more about Ethiopian food. One of his traveling companions is Yeworkwoha "Workye" Ephrem, owner of Ghenet Restaurant in New York and his adviser on Ethiopian cuisine. Ephrem is taking him to meet a higher authority: her 81-year-old mother, Muluwork Asfaw. ..." >>more
The Nibbler: Spicing up a foodie gala - By Chris Sherman
St. Petersburg Times 2002
''... Perhaps the most sophisticated demonstration the uptown crowd got was berebere, the remarkable aromatic combination of cardamom, allspice and a variety of pepper, in lively doro wett chicken and lentils from Ethiopia. "Too many people don't see the flavor (in peppers). They want to sweat. That's not the point," said Yeworkwoha Ephrem, who started New York's first Ethiopian restaurant. "If I make something that is too spicy, I cannot be proud of it..." >>more
EATING OUT; Around the World - By Eric Asimov
The New York Times 1998
'For globe-trotters and armchair travelers, these 12 restaurants offer a chance to wander the world without leaving New York. (These summaries, written by Eric Asimov, are taken from Ruth Reichl's and Mr. Asimov's dining reviews, columns and articles in The Times.)
This pleasant restaurant, which opened recently in Little Italy, is sort of an Ethiopian restaurant with training wheels, offering a genial introduction to the pleasures of the cuisine, with each dish explained on the menu in English. The centerpiece of the meal is a platter of injera, a spongy bread made from fermented tef, a ryelike Ethiopian grain. You tear off a piece of the injera and use it as a utensil, scooping up portions of various stews like siga wat, cubes of tender, delicious beef, and doro wat, a traditional chicken stew. The best dishes at Ghenet (which means Paradise) are the appetizers, including kategna, simply a length of injera toasted until crisp and painted with berbere, a fiery sauce, and kibe, a clarified butter that resembles the Indian ghee. >>more
$25 and Under;
An Ethiopian Adventure in the Heart of Little Italy - By Eric Asimov
The New York Times 1998
MORE than a few Ethiopian restaurants dot New York City. Most cater to Ethiopians and to the already initiated, who are familiar with injera, the spongy, deliciously sour Ethiopian bread, and who know how to use it in place of cutlery to scoop up the meat and vegetable stews that form much of the cuisine.
Ghenet is different. This pleasant restaurant, which opened recently in Little Italy, is sort of an Ethiopian restaurant with training wheels, offering a genial introduction to the pleasures of the cuisine. Each dish, from engouday tibs to denetch wat, is explained on the menu in English. Silverware is available; the seating is Western rather than the traditional woven basket-style tables and chairs, and the owners, Yeworkwoha Ephrem and her daughter, Sosinna Degefu, are smiling presences, eager to recommend and explain dishes. >>more |
Two locations in Manhattan popular and frequented by New Yorkers and visitors we pride ourselves in serving fine Ethiopian cuisine along with the thrill of discovering a different culture.