Located a mere eight-minute walk from Garfield, Seattle’s Cherry Street cluster of Ethiopian cuisine is home to five authentic Ethiopian restaurants. All spaced within a mile of one another, restaurants Agelgil, Cafe Selam, Meskel, Ras Dashen, and Zagol serve traditionally prepared Ethiopian dishes. While in the larger neighborhood, the number of restaurants is even higher. After interviewing family-owned businesses Cafe Selam and Agelgil, The Messenger learned what it’s like to be a restaurant owner in such an agglomeration.
Ethiopian style cooking is unique in flavor with rich and heavily seasoned vegetable and meat dishes. Despite being meat heavy, Ethiopian dishes contain no pork or shellfish due to religious guidelines and have a variety of vegetarian options. Full of rich spices, Ethiopian food hosts many flavors using dried chiles and fenugreek, a kind of herb, to enrich dishes. Laid on top of a platter of injera, a crepe-like flatbread with a fermented batter, consumers scoop different dishes into the injera with their right hand, as one’s left hand is considered unclean. Tibs, a type of stir fry stew centered on richly spiced beef served on top of injera, is a popular dish to order. For vegetarian or vegetable lovers, Azifa might be preferable. This dish is a tangy lentil salad, served with hot peppers and topped with ginger and lemon, making it a popular dish during Lent. After a vast collection of dishes are set out, Ethiopian coffee is commonly served following the meal. Arabica coffee is widely known for originating in Ethiopia and is described as richer and sweeter than other coffee, with flavors of chocolate and sugar being more prominent. Some Ethiopian households drink coffee many times a day, slowing down and putting other tasks aside to enjoy the drink.
Beyond the feast on the table, Ethiopian food also has a social aspect that is just as important. During an interview with Cafe Selam, the daughter of the owner and employee herself, Amy Chalachew, described this: “Ethiopians, when they eat, it brings people together. Ethiopian food is wonderful. It’s love.” Chalachew explained traditions such as Gursha, the act of feeding someone else a bite of food, whether it is with a stranger or a loved one. Gursha, meaning “mouthful”, can be an act of politeness and affection.
Cafe Selam is located just a block or two from Garfield, tucked next to Your Family Auto car shop. It was one of the first Ethiopian restaurants that opened in the area, back in 2002. The neighborhood has changed quite a bit in the 20 years since. “I think in the beginning, when people started immigrating to Seattle, this was probably a more affordable neighborhood because it was not the greatest area during the 90’s,” Chalachew said. She was 12 when her mother opened the family business, and started working there in her late teens. She has gotten to watch the area evolve. “It’s safer [now], a lot safer. I don’t have to worry about my mom taking out the garbage. We are all women here… it is comforting to know we don’t have to be on our toes as much as we used to,” Chalachew said.
The Ethiopian community has remained, thrived, and grown into the agglomeration it is today. The Messenger asked two restaurants if the number of Ethiopian businesses made for a competitive dynamic, or if it improved business.
Agelgil Ethiopian restaurant, a little farther East on Cherry Street, said the business-to-business relationships are supportive more than competitive. The owners Rahel and Daniel Getahun are brother and sister, and took over the restaurant about a year ago. “Even though we are competitors, we still work together and support each other. If one of us is out of beer or something, another will step up to help,” Rahel said. She also emphasized that each business has a place and role in the community. “People should have access to a diverse variety of foods, and Seattle is pretty good for that. We provide authentic Ethiopian food.”
Chalachew at Cafe Selam had a similar mindset about competition. “No, no no. Not on our side at least. We don’t need to be competitive with anyone because our food is different, it’s fresh. We don’t try to keep up with trends, we just have our own thing and we don’t change our menu. It’s just simple and good quality,” said Chalachew. “We try to make it just like back home so when people visit they feel like they’re eating at their mom’s house and they can get that authentic experience.” A friend of Chalachew, Lucy Bayley added: “It’s preference, a lot of Ethiopians, their way of making the food, even though it’s similar, it’s not the same. I can eat the same thing here and I can eat the same thing next door and it will be totally different.”
Seattle’s availability of diverse local cuisine is essential to its neighborhood charm. Both Cafe Selam and Agelgil are open all day and their short distance and quick service make them an easy option for a student lunch.
