Conscious Choice: An (Ethiopian) Diamond in the Rough

July 2008 | Conscious Dining

An (Ethiopian) Diamond in the Rough

By Tanya Fritz

Almaz Yigizaw grew up in Gonder Ethiopia, cooking with her grandmother. Due to concerns with the government, they left Ethiopia for Sudan and then moved to Chicago when she was 16 years old. While in college, she took a course for entrepreneurs where her final project was to write a business plan for a restaurant … and in 1996 Ethiopian Diamond was born.

Almaz, whose name means “diamond,” explains to me with a genuine smile in her voice, that she loves seeing her customers happy. She is a peaceful woman who clearly feels the most important part of her business is making her customers happy. “My proudest moments are when people come in not smiling and then leave smiling. I love introducing people to new food and to the culture of Ethiopia; in fact, I just love being in the restaurant with my customers. Nothing makes me more fulfilled.” I can tell her candor is real and that she really does derive her happiest moments when she is at work. Her spirit pervades the restaurant.

Our server helped us understand the different dishes and ingredients in the vegetarian assortments. She explained how to eat the different portions with the injera, which is the bread that you use to scoop up the stew-like dishes. I’ve only had white injera in the past, which is made from self-rising flour, typically wheat flour. But our server offered to share with us black injera, made from teff, a gluten-free grass that is extremely rich in minerals like iron and calcium and also offers fiber and protein. The teff is a little sour tasting, which works really well with the food. Injera is expensive since it only grows in northern Ethiopia (with new farmers recently popping up in Idaho and Michigan), but for an extra $2 and a call ahead, you can have your entire meal served with black injera.

Almaz says her favorite dishes are the Shimbra Assa which is a chickpea-based dough cooked in the same style as a fish stew. “It’s popular during our 50 days of lent each year,” Almaz explains. It takes three to four hours to make since you have to make the dough from scratch and then layer in the spices, which are all direct from Ethiopia. The collard greens, which are hearty, rich and earthy, are another favorite of Almaz, and were my favorite as well. Almaz explained that in Ethiopia, most people don’t have an option to be vegetarian, they simply must be, due to economic constraints. She found it interesting when she first came to America that some people choose to be vegetarian, for conscious living reasons, for health or for taste.

Almaz says the next steps for her are to open a second restaurant, since so many people come to Ethiopian Diamond from the southern and western suburbs. “I’d like to be able to open a second place so that people don’t have to travel so far to eat here,” she says in her very candid and genuine way.

On weekend nights, the restaurant fills up with families and small groups. The same jazz band has been playing there on Friday nights for the past ten years. The band is great and the atmosphere is really lively, fun and casual. That, on top of excellent healthy food, makes for a fantastic meal.

Ethiopian Diamond, 6120 N. Broadway, Chicago; 773-338-6100.

Tanya Fritz is a professionally trained chef, oenophile, slow-food fanatic and yoga enthusiast.

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