New restaurant introduces Ethiopian food to SLO County. Here’s what’s on the menu
A new Ethiopian restaurant — the only one in the county — has opened in San Luis Obispo.
Ebony, the creation of four Ethiopian women, offers a full menu of organic, gluten-free and vegan foods at its location at 4750 Allene Way across from the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, in a shared commercial cooking space called The Kitchen Terminal.
The menu features Ethiopian bread called injera, made of teff flour, and sauces including various combinations of vegetables such as carrots, split peas, onions, chili peppers, cabbage, tomatoes and more, said Helen Abraha, the executive chef.
“With Ethiopian food, you start with the injera, which is the flat, pointy bread,” Abraha said. “Without that, you cannot eat anything.”
The essence of the Ethiopian eating experience is that one uses their hands, not eating utensils, soaking up the sauces with the bread. And often food is enjoyed at a communal table with a group.
“You wash your hands and then you sit down and you usually eat it with other people,” said Feben Teffera, a silent partner and SLO County resident since 2016. “So, it’s one big tray. You don’t really eat alone. You wash your hands and you share and you eat. Then you go wash your hands again.”
As a way to encourage strangers to interact, and share the same space if not the same food, Ebony will soon set up a long table with an umbrella, plants and music where people can sit and eat together, Teffera said.
The business’ other partners are Martha Taezaz, also a chef, and Haben Ghermazien, another silent partner who lives in Oakland.
The restaurant, which opened four months ago, is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday from 11:30 to 6 p.m.
Dishes can sell out and people are encouraged to order earlier in the day to make sure to get their food, the owners say.
Ethiopian food ingredients
Other foods worked into dishes include lentils, peas and seasonal vegetables with product prices ranging from $3 to a popular dish for two that costs $28.
The food has some spice, but overall it’s fairly mild, and children enjoy it, the owners said.
Teffera, the niece of Abraha and Taezaz, had opened pop-ups previously in the SLO area with success.
“Because the pop-up was so popular, everything sold out within 10 minutes,” Teffera said. “And then I did a second one and it was the same story. Then two years later, all four of us got together and started Ebony. Now, we’re the only Ethiopian food between San Jose to Los Angeles.”
Customers can order to go or sit down and eat.
“Their still get takeout, but they will have someplace to sit down, eat, listen to music and enjoy the atmosphere as well,” Teffera said.
The daily menu is available on Ebony’s Instagram page, pending the imminent launch of a restaurant website.
A grab-and-go option includes cold snacks of green lentils with finely minced red onions, jalapeño, mustard and olive oil dressing served with injera crisps.
“We’ve had some customers who, after coming for the first time, they never stopped coming,” Abraha said.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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