Peg Kerr's Journal

I think I am going to limit the number of times I can make a '100 things' entry about restaurants. Don't get me wrong, I love trying new restaurants. But I want to make this a get-out-of-my-comfort-zone project, and trying a new restaurant, let's face it, doesn't take getting too much extra effort on my part. So, maybe, no more than one out of four or so. This is to push me a bit to try new things.

But I'll do it for this entry. Yesterday, I got home from work and thought, let's try a new restaurant? What type? I did Google searches around my home, trying to think of cuisines I'd be willing to try. I thought of all the African immigrants that we've been seeing here in Minneapolis, and for my third search tried 'Ethiopian restaurants.' And I found one near my home, T's place. One phrase on the menu: "Authentic Ethiopian-Asian Cuisine."

Say what? Ethiopian-Asian? Huh?

So I went to check it out. I initially sat outside, but to my intense annoyance, a smoker lit up at the next table over. So I moved back indoors (at the Google map page for the restaurant, you can see a 360 degree picture of the space indoors - see here). It's a pleasant space, and the music was fun, sort of a funky cool fusion jazz mix.

The menu explains:

T's Place is owned by Chef Tee Belachew. Tee was born in Ethiopia and has been in the Twin Cities for 16 years. Tee became passionate about cooking at a young age when his Auntie Wyzro Bezunesh Belachew taught him traditional home cooking.

Tee became a partner with Singaporian Chef Kin Lee in 2002 after they went on a culinary tour of Europe and Asia to research spices. In 2006, Tee decided to go out on his own and establish T's Place. All of his food is made from scratch and features authentic and flavorful meals full of delicious blends of mouth watering spices.

I placed an order for one of the appetizers, Yemisir Sambusa (Lentil-stuffed pastries) and I asked the waitress for a recommendation for the main menu, and she suggested the Chicken Curry.

I waited a half an hour for my appetizer. This seemed a little odd, since I was literally the only customer in the restaurant. It was tasty, with a nicely crisp exterior, tender and flaky. And the dipping sauce was a nice sweet and sour accent. But they definitely lost points because the internal stuffing, the lentil mix, although flavorfully spicy, was cold. I doubt it was supposed to come to the table that way.

So now they had a couple strikes against them. I waited another fifteen minutes for my main course, getting more and more dubious. But the chicken curry lived up to the waitress's recommendation. A subtle curry sauce, and with a vegetable/chicken mix. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, crisp/tender. It was a generous serving, and I took home enough in a box for another meal.

So: a mixed success. I'd be willing to try T's Place again.





{Take the 100 Things challenge!}

I was thinking, after my post about my weird inner dissatisfaction, that part of my problem was that I haven't been able to follow my treasured Friday night out custom for awhile. I used to spend Friday night out doing whatever I wanted to do, and over the last six months, this has become very difficult because 1) suddenly there were three Friday night karate classes in a row and 2) no money because of the layoff. However, last night, Rob had the day off and so could drive the girls to their classes, and I decided to skip my own karate class in the interests of mental health (sorry, pazlazuli) and have one of my classic Friday nights out. The money hasn't quite been flowing in yet, but I know it's coming, and I have money left over from the bonus from work. And I have some gift cards from Christmas.

First, I went to a bookstore and bought some books using gifts cards so I'd have something to read while I ate and while waiting for a movie. I picked up Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, which I've been wanting to try for a long time, and a book on making decadent coffee drinks.

Then, I went to try a restaurant I haven't tried before that sounded interesting, Namaste Cafe and ordered whatever I wanted without worrying about price or calories. And so I did, and it was absolutely wonderful. Namaste Cafe, at about 25th and Hennepin, is a charming little place painted in warm saffron colors. I got the Ginger Cardamon Chai (delicious), the Katmandu Curry with lamb, Aloo Paratha bread on the side, and I finished up with Sikarni, which is whole milk yogurt drained to a custard-like consistency, mixed with sugar, cashews, raisins, cinnamon and cardamon. I just about moaned aloud when I took my first bite; it was so delicious.

I had hoped to squeeze in a stop at a bead store, maybe Bobby Bead, which was just a few blocks up on Hennepin. I was thinking in terms of what Julie Cameron in The Artist's Way called a weekly artist date--spend time doing something that pleases your inner artist, as a way to get your creativity going. I've been meaning to get the supplies to make a red bead necklace--I have lots of blue and purple necklaces, but nothing that's red, and I wear a lot of red. But I didn't have time if I wanted to catch the movie I had in mind. I drove over to the Riverview Theater and watched "Into the Wild." The Riverview is so cheap ($3 a ticket) that it assuaged any guilty pangs I might have had about spending more than usual on dinner. I was tremendously impressed with the movie (I plan to make a separate entry on it, considered in conjunction with The Glass Castle.

Anyway, the evening was such a success, gave me such pleasure, that I realized, with some surprise, how much I've been missing this. I haven't been doing enough just to recharge and reenergize myself by doing all the things I love most to do. I'll need to find more ways to do so in the months ahead.