Nafkot Ethiopian Restaurant
We sat there in a brief discomfort, all of us noticeably weary of what was to come except for our host, Yah. We chuckled for a second then pointed to T, the young one of the group. With a newfound gusto, T opened his mouth and let Yah gently place injera inside of his mouth. This practice in Ethiopia is known as gursha, and it’s signifies a respect and friendsip you have with the person you’re feeding.
For weeks, my co-worker Yah has been coordinating this dinner among our team. New to our group, Yah was eager to share a piece of him with us, and what he’s deeply tied too is his heritage. A native to Ethiopia, Yah glows anytime you speak of his home. Once he spent an half hour at my desk just Googling all the sights of Ethiopia for me to see.
The Triangle, to the surprise to some, is not a complete stranger to Ethiopia food. Yah’s choice of restaurant had long been known as the Ethiopian restaurant Abyssinia. But under new ownership, the space has been transformed into a Nafkot. Yah mentioned he preferred Nafkot because of how it reminded him so much of home. While the area isn’t a stranger to Ethiopian food, most of my colleagues were. Most of the group was excited but there was some noticeable trepidation encountering the new cuisine.
Yah took it upon himself to order for the table. As a result, an large serving plate of the Ethiopian bread injera arrived at the table with piles of varies stews, meats and vegetables stacked on top of it. I’d be lying to you if I told you I knew all the things were.
Yah showed us how to roll the injera into each bit of food to get multiple flavors in each bite. Attentively, we watched as he maneuvered the bread to picked up each dish. No one us got it correctly. But I was happy eating each dish individually in the injera.
The team navigated through the dinner exploring the new cuisine, gaining more confidence in their eating technique with each bite. And what was first uncomfortable became a treasured experienced. Yah could’ve taken us to a lot of other places for a good meal. But he choose Nafkot because the bold flavors and the traditions are who he is and thats what he wanted us to get comfortable with.
Nafkot Ethiopian Restaurant
https://www.facebook.com/nafkot2109/
2109 Avent Ferry rd #146 Raleigh, North Carolina
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