Photo from Konjo Ethiopian Food
The opening of the Edgewater Public Market at 20th and Depew is coming soon so we thought it would be a great time to spotlight the businesses moving into the spaces.
Today we are talking to Fetien Gebre-Michael, the co-owner of Konjo Ethiopian Food!
How did you get involved in this business?
I grew up, one of 12 children. Yes, 12. Being the eldest daughter, I was constantly cooking for a small army, literally! Ethiopian food is very communal and encourages you to eat in a group setting. Often times we are just in the daily grind of life and forget to stop and slow down for a moment. The Ethiopian culture is a humble one. We strive to take care of one another and look after our fellow human being. In 2010 I launched Konjo Catering, the first Ethiopian catering company in Colorado. People enjoyed the food for not only its flavorful aromas, which smack you in the face when you walk in, but its health benefits as well. Ethiopian food covers almost all dietary restrictions. All of our entrees are nut free, soy free, gluten free, and all of our veggies are vegan. It’s a win, win.
In 2015, my business partner Yoseph Assefa and I launched The Ethiopian Food Truck. It was the first one in Colorado. We were going to name it some fancy Ethiopian name and then realized that a) no one would know what it meant and b) everyone would probably just point to us and say ‘The Ethiopian one’. Ha! Being a mobile restaurant gave us the opportunity to see the growth of consumers’ palates. When we first started the truck we would constantly hear ‘I’ve never tried Ethiopian food’ and now, ‘I love Ethiopian food!’ We had found our niche.
What drew you to be part of the Edgewater Public Market?
Yoseph and I had been going back and forth about opening up our first store front and what location we wanted to nestle into. Did we want a brick and mortar or did we want to do something more ‘family like’ and effective for our growing business? We looked into the food hall craze that been steadily growing in Denver and we honed in on Edgewater for the ‘neighborhood’ feel. Remember, Ethiopian food is very communal and is a time honored tradition set in sharing in one another’s personal space. I personally grew up in Lakewood, Yoseph bought a house not too far from Edgewater, so it was a perfect fit.
What will you offer in your shop?
To start, we will offer the same menu as our food truck. Four vegan options; Misir Wot, spiced red lentil stew, Kik Alicha, yellow split peas simmered in turmeric, Tikil Gomen, curried cabbage, carrots & potatoes, Gomen w/Dinich, seasoned spinach w/potatoes. We will offer two meat dishes, beef and chicken, both sautéed with onions, garlic, tomatoes, jalapenos, Ethiopian seasoning and clarified butter. We will also have Sambusas, which are similar to samosas. They’re stuffed with seasoned brown lentils and deep fried. A house favorite. We will be adding on a salad and basmati yellow rice. As we move forward our goal is to add a lot more veggie options. Ethiopia is known for its vegan dishes as culturally, 75% of the year is observed for vegan fasting.
What makes your business unique?
Konjo Ethiopian Food will be the first ever, Ethiopian fast, casual restaurant, in Colorado. Operating the food truck has helped us with getting larger volumes of food out in a shorter amount of time, without sacrificing taste and authenticity of the food. A traditional sit down Ethiopian restaurants is typically an hour long process from start to finish. While there will always be a market for that, we see that the trends are changing and people want to be able to get great, healthy food, faster.
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
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