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True Blue And Healthy, Too!

Blue Nile offers authentic Ethiopian fare with healthy menu choices.

T

hroughout America, there may be
numerous Ethiopian restaurants
that offer unusual adventures in
"authentic" native dining of that culture.
Few restaurants, however, according to
those who have visited such eateries, com-
pare with the Blue Nile on West Nine Mile,
Ferndale, for true authenticity in prepara-
tion and presentation of Ethiopian cuisine.
Owner Seifu Lessanwork, Jewish
Ethiopian native, and his wife, Fetlework,
also born in Ethiopia, own a legitimate
Ethiopian restaurant that not only serves
tasty fare of their country, but is also well-
noted for its healthful menu suggestions.
Best-sellers are the vegan dishes ... This
and gluten-free Ethiopian bread are among
the many features requested.
Its healthy chicken marinated with lemon
juice and Ethiopian herbs is a big choice ...
As is lamb prepared by boiling and rinsing
to take out the fat ... Beef is simmered in
niter kibbeh herbed butter, berbere sauce
and onions ... Weekly special dishes also
include the highly popular Beef Tibs (pan-
sauteed tenderly) beef tenderloin.
Adventurous diners may want to try the
Ethiopian food that includes as-much-as-
you-can-eat of all meat dishes and veg-
etables except lamb and Timatim Salata
(European-style salad of romaine lettuce,
tomatoes, onions and jalapeno peppers ...
Plus lemon juice and olive dressing) ... Or
the vegetarian feast, all-that-can-be-eaten

Fetlework and Seifu Lessanwork

of every vegetarian dish in the
house except Timatim Salata.
True Ethiopian artwork
adorns the walls at Blue Nile ...
Tables are the usual dining style
along with authentic mesob
woven tables with their woven
covers that are never removed
until the food is ready to be
served.
Table utensils will be provided
if requested, but eating is with
the hands ... A warm towel is
given to each person to clean the hands dur-
ing and following the meal.
Wonderful injera bread, the pride of
Ethiopia, is flat and also used instead of
utensils ... By the way, dining in Ethiopia
with injera is considered an act of affection
when offering bites to your guest.
Blue Nile has been acclaimed many times
with best ethnic restaurant awards and as
one of the most highly rated romantic res-
taurants in Detroit, among many other com-
mendations.
Seating is for around 90 ... and six-day
openings ... Tuesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.;
Friday and Saturday, 4-11 p.m.; Sunday, 3-9
p.m.
Another interesting aspect of Ethiopian
dining is the way its food is prepared ...
Its regimen is based on the removal of all
excess fat before cooking ... This includes
lamb, which in an authentic Ethiopian res-
taurant like Blue Nile is fat-trimmed with
fervor to remove as much as possible.
Every precaution in true Ethiopian
cooking, whether it be lamb, beef, chicken
or vegetable, is taken to assure complete
healthful and tasty results ... This trait is an
extremely powerful weapon against non-
healthy consumption.
And if you are a coffee drinker, you may
love Blue Nile's roasting of Ethiopian cof-
fee beans, then grinding and brewing what
many say is the richest and finest coffee they

have yet enjoyed.
Same for Ethiopian tea,
sweet and light without using
cane sugar, an important
health point ... Ethiopian
tea is not only very tasty but
extremely good for the person
imbibing the natural ingredi-
ent-filled delicacy ... Its Suf-
Fitfit sunflower juice mixed
with gluten-free Ethiopian
bread is also great for healthy
diets.
Blue Nile is a truly a most enjoyable
dining journey into the magic wonders of
authentic Ethiopian dining.
NO STOPPING HIM ... as Joe Vicari,
founder and CEO, continues to do things
with his Andiamo Restaurant Group that
constantly keep his ranking among the
nation's top restaurateurs ... On the heels
of Joe's recent name change to Andiamo
Trattoria Royal Oak, he'll open another
one on May 15 at Metropolitan Airport ...
All six of his casual Andiamos will eventu-
ally be called Trattorias, and Joe's five finer
dining Andiamos, including inside Las
Vegas' "D" Hotel & Casino, will be Andiamo
Ristorantes.
BACK IN THE 1960s, his stepson
and general manager Bernie Kerner told
Darbys owner, Sam Boesky, that customers
had been complaining that day about the
chicken noodle soup ... Too salty ... Instead
of noodles there were little pastas ... Sam
tasted it, called his wife and said, "Edna,
somebody in the kitchen is trying to put me
out of business!"
Seems that the soup that day was made
by a culinary school student-apprentice who
received a quick goodbye from Sam ... And
nobody but Frank, himself, Darbys execu-
tive chef, was permitted to make the chicken
noodle soup, with implicit instructions to
use little or no salt (salt shakers on tables
were there for customers to use as little or

as much as they want, Sam yelled) ... Also,
that chicken noodle soup should only be like
Sam's grandmother made it, with long thin
noodles.
The young food student had put in little
curled pastas as called for by his Italian
culture ... Jewish chicken noodle soup as
I know it should only be with long thin
noodles, not pasta curls ... Soup like Murray
Lieberman used to serve at Lieberman &
Citron on Linwood, Boesky's on 12th, Jimmy
and Sally Katz at Katz's Deli in Oak Park,
Rose and Irving Guttman at Irving's on
Dexter, Jack and Harriet Goldberg at Stage
in Oak Park, and so many, many more deli-
catessens of yesteryears ... Plus places like
Cream of Michigan on 12th Street, etc. ...
Those to me had real Jewish chicken noodle
soup!
OLDIE BUT GOODIE ... Six Jewish
gents were playing poker when Meyer loses
$500 on a single hand, clutches his chest and
drops dead at the table. Showing respect for
their fallen comrade, the other five complete
their playing time standing up.
Sam looks around and asks, "Who is going
to tell his wife?" They draw straws, Abe, who
is always a loser, picks the short one. They
tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don't make
a bad situation any worse than it is.
"Gentlemen! Discreet? I am the most dis-
creet fellow you will ever meet. Discretion is
my middle name; leave it to me."
Abe goes over to the wife's apartment and
she asks what he wants.
Abe says, "Your husband just lost $500."
She yells, "Tell him he should drop dead!"
Abe says, "I'll tell him."
CONGRATS TO ... Illana Greenberg
on her birthday ... To Dharlene Norris on
her birthday ... (Correction, it's Morris, not
Maurice "Bud" Sherbow on his 90th birth-
day.) 0

Danny's email address is
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net .

6545 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD. WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI 48322
(SE CORNER OF MAPLE & ORCHARD LAKE, NEXT TO PLUM MARKET)
WWW.PRIME29STEAKHOUSE.COM 248.73.PRIME (77463)

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April 30 • 2015

JN