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In Omnivorous, Mike Sula finds a wealth of things Ethiopian at Edgewater’s tiny Kukulu Market. Owner Assefa Retta stocks multiple varieties of injera, the spongy flatbread made from the grain teff; the roasted grain snack kolo; the biscuits called dabo kolo; plus spices, legumes, and the ingredients for the honey wine tej and tella, Ethiopian-style beer. Retta also offers house-roasted Yirgacheffe coffee and house-made sambusas, berbere paste, and niter kibbe, the spiced clarified butter that gives many Ethiopian dishes their distinctive richness.
In the listings is a roundup of East African places, among them Abyssinia Restaurant, an Edgewater spot that is rare in serving traditional Ethiopian breakfast in addition to lunch and dinner; Rogers Park’s Royal Coffee, which also offers Ethiopian breakfast; Lalibela, a BYO slightly off the main Edgewater Ethiopian strip; and Uptown’s Demera, just across from the Green Mill. At Rogers Park’s Ethiopian Diamond II, a second location of the Edgewater mainstay, there’s a Sunday Ethiopian brunch buffet for $13.95.