Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Restaurant Review - Etete

Why, oh why, am I surrounded by people who detest Ethiopian food? DC is loaded with great Ethiopian restaurants, but I have the hardest time getting anyone to go with me. The common complaint seems to be about injera, which I guess one of those things you either love or hate.

Whenever I can manage to drag someone along, I go to Etete. I've been meaning to try out other places, especially Queen Makeda and Dukem, but it's hard to pass up a chance for Etete's vegetarian sampler. It's all vegan, so no fancy ordering required, and it's all delicious. It comes with a whole bunch of yummy things, my favorites being the yeataklit wat and the yemisir wat. The yeataklit is like Ethiopian comfort food; it's a vegetable stew with delicious but mild flavors. The yemisir is spicy lentils. The combo plate is tons of food, so I like to devour the yemisir and yeataklit plus all of the salad and gomen (collard greens) in the interest of healthy-ness, and take the rest home.

It's a tiny place and it can get very crowded, so don't try and go here with a big group. But the service is always wonderful, and if you're among the sane people who appreciate the wonderfulness that is Ethiopian food, you won't be disappointed.

I've tried making a couple of Ethiopian dishes on my own, posts on that to follow.

Here Goes!

I've wanted to start a blog since I became a vegan (January 1st of this year - 5 months and counting!) and now, at 11:30 when I should be sleeping, I'm finally doing it. Vegan blogs were a huge help to me in deciding to go vegan and sticking with it; I hope I can help someone else out.

Most of the blogs I read are full of great recipes. I wish I could add to that, but I'm a cook, not a chef. I can follow a recipe, but most of my own creations tend to fail. Horribly. There was one particular incident with stir-fried eggplant and quinoa that makes me shudder just thinking about it. But I've always appreciated it when blogs give reviews and thoughts about recipes from popular cookbooks, so you'll probably see a lot of that here. I'll also post about my favorite spots for vegan food in the DC area and other places I travel.

I'd love to make some new friends, local and far-flung, so drop me a line!