Chef Yihdego Giday was indeed the chief of his own private culinary country, an aesthetically sophisticated domain of tastes, aromas and earthen colors.
As my gaze turned naturally from one elegantly penned image of stately Ethiopian women to another—all artfully placed throughout the restaurant, I could not help being drawn to their extraordinarily intricate weaves. The braid itself has always held special meaning for me, evoking a trio of delicacy, beauty and strength.
Soft-spoken and yet speaking with a kind of rough elegance, he told me he had arrived seven years ago in 2004.
“If you came in 2004 then you are now free to return to your homeland with no loss of time,” I said wryly
Chef got my joke about the year date and laughed heartily. Our bond had been sealed. Now things flowed. A painting of the coffee ceremony done on goatskin “canvas” caught my eye.
Though having always been a painter, using the skin of a goat to paint upon would probably never have crossed my mind… more on that ceremony in a minute.
Yihdego’s background ranged from cooking in a variety of hotels in Addis Ababa to being in charge of the menu for both Google and Nordstrom’s before culminating his trajectory with the grand opening of “Chef,” here in Seattle, Washington. After a stint as a student of the culinary arts at the Seattle Community College he could now claim to have also added French
A Toast to the Best
French Toast-Maker
in the World
by David L. Laing