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G H UA
N
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F INE C HINESE D INING
“A wonderful adventure in fine dining” ~ Danny Raskin
Taste of Ethiopia
T
he vegetarian, legume and meat dishes that comprise
dining
Ethiopian cuisine are intended to be shared from a com-
around
mon plate. That’s the uniqueness of the evening dining
experience
— a buffet is offered at lunch — for guests at Taste
the d
Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner
Catering and carryout available
Gift certificates
27925 Orchard Lake Rd., North of 12 Mile, Farmington Hills
248-489-2280
www.honghuafinedining.com
STAR
DELI
“…one of America’s finest
carryout-only delicatessens!
Star’s reputation
has never wavered!”
— Danny Raskin
COMPARE OUR LOW PRICES WITH ANY DELICATESSEN IN TOWN!
MEAT TRAY
DAIRY TRAY
SALAD TRAY
$11.99 per
person
person
$22.99 per
$12.99 per
person
SALAD TRAY W/ LOX & CREAM CHEESE
$16.99
per
person
Order Your
Passover Favorites Now!
Matzo Balls, Gefilte Fish, Potato Kugel,
Chicken Soup, Chopped Liver, Vegetarian
Chopped Liver, and GREAT desserts
including 7-Layer Cake
AND MORE!
Best Deli Trays
In Town!
)0634.0/4"5".1.t46/".1.
24555 W. 12 MILE ROAD
+VTUXFTUPG5FMFHSBQI3PBEt4PVUIGJFME
248-352-7377
www.stardeli.net
Prices subject to change
80
March 29 • 2018
jn
$ 5
OFF
On Star’s beautiful already
low-priced trays
Expires 4/12/18. One Per Order. Not Good Holidays.
10 Person Minimum. With this coupon.
DELIVERY AVAILABLE
2140950
of Ethiopia in Southfield.
While silverware is available, it’s traditional to break off piec-
es of injera, a spongy flatbread, to scoop up mouthfuls of food
heaped on an injera-covered platter. The dark and tangy injera
is made from teff, a small, nutritious grain native to Ethiopia.
A more intimate way to dine employs the concept of goursha
(or gursha), where one diner feeds bites of injera-pinched food
to another. “Spread the Love, the Goursha Way” is inscribed on
a wooden plank above the buffet ledge.
Esther Allweiss
Metro Detroit can thank owners Meskerem “Meski”
Ingber
Gebreyohannes and her husband, Workalemahu Kassa, or
Contributing Writer
“Kassa,” for bringing us Taste of Ethiopia. Emigrants to Canada
in 1982, Meski had an Ethiopian restaurant in Toronto. In 2005,
a year after moving to the Detroit area, the couple opened its
first Taste of Ethiopia in a Southfield Road shopping strip. A
concurrent, second restaurant lasted four years in Detroit’s
Eastern Market.
“There’s no comparison,” said Meski, discussing how much
business improved after moving into the restaurant’s light-filled
space on Northwestern Highway, below 12 Mile.
Meski, an Ethiopian Jew, enjoys teaching schoolchildren and
other visitors about the customs and cuisine of her native land.
Items she displays in the restaurant include pitchers, baskets,
dolls, wood carvings and musical instruments. Black-and-white
drawings of Ethiopian people in black frames decorate a rough
yellow wall in the dining room. The opposite blue wall features
three folk art depictions of women. Tables are set with colored
cloth napkins, and white paper covers the white cloth table-
cloths. The seating for 50 includes booths.
Upon customer order, the kitchen individually hand-roasts
its mild, delicately flavored Ethiopian coffee. Traditional con-
tainers are utilized for bringing coffee, sugar, frankincense and
burning incense to the table on a platter. The naturally sweet
Ethiopian tea I adore contains aromatic spices. Smoothies are
also available.
Like the beverages, everything is made from scratch here,
including baklava and vegan cheesecake.
“There’s nothing where we can just open a box,” Meski said.
She and her engineer husband, who arrives after work, both
cook.
My mouth waters thinking about the buffet I’ve tried many
times, served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays. The non-meat choices
include red lentil and split pea sauces, cabbage and carrots, and
collard greens. A vegetarian combination plate may be created
from seven menu choices, plus salad and a side,
such as the daily soup.
Traditionally seasoned beef, lamb, chicken
and fish dishes are menu options that rotate on
the buffet.
“People love our lamb here,” Meski said.
Choices are mild lamb stew, lamb on the bone
served in a hot pan and spicy, marinated cubes
of lamb. The meat combo also includes two veg-
etable dishes.
Meski and Kassa have three children and four
Taste of Ethiopia grandchildren. Their restaurateur son in D.C.
28639 Northwestern Hwy. also manages Taste of Ethiopia Grab & Go refrig-
Southfield, MI 48034 erated entrees, available at Whole Foods.
(248) 905-5560 Boasting a liquor license and Meski’s Mojito,
tasteofethiopiadetroit.com Taste of Ethiopia opens a second location this
$$ out of $$$$$ spring in Birmingham. •