Coming Soon: African Harambee [Ethiopian Diamond 2]

Dish Newsletter wrote:It’s a case of the amazing self-replicating restaurant. Gateway Bar & Grill (formerly My Place For ?), a Rogers Park fixture, shut its doors six months ago. The place is in transition, and when it reopens later this spring there will be two restaurants under the same roof. Amphora (7545 N. Clark St.; 773-262-5767), the Mediterranean half of the equation, is set to open in April, a month earlier than its neighbor, African Harambee (7537 N. Clark St.). ... As for African Harambee, Sisay Abebe, the Ethiopian-born owner, says the word “harambee” is Swahili for a number of things, mainly to convey a sense of unity, so expect flavors from many African traditions. That means Abebe’s chef and partner, Martha Yimer, will be cooking up dishes such as arroz de coco (rice with tomatoes, chilies, and coconut milk) from Mozambique and groundnut meat stew with peanut butter, garlic, and onions served over rice from West Africa.

Sisay Abebe is the owner of Ethiopian Diamond, my favorite Ethiopian Restaurant. This new restaurant will be a ten minute walk from home for me.

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

Sounds fabulous. I'll be looking forward to your comments once you've dined there. As much as I love Ethiopian, it will be nice to sample an even wider variety of African cuisine.

This does sound good, I will be looking for it to open. Hopefully they'll have some vegetarian dishes so I can take my veggie only friends.

More info on Amphora & African Harambee Restaurants in old Gateway Building from DevCorp:
Amphora Restaurant to open at the site of the former Gateway Bar & Grill
Amphora Restaurant is scheduled to open on April 11, 2007 at 7547 N. Clark Street (formerly the Gateway Bar & Grill). Owner Steve Dorizas has spent the last several months renovating the space into two new restaurants. Amphora will open in part of the building and this summer The African Harambee Restaurant, an African restaurant featuring unique dishes from Mozambique, Angola and the continent of Africa, will open in the other section. One of the co-owners of The African Harambee is the founder of Ethiopian Diamond in Edgewater.

Amphora will offer Mediterrean cuisine perfected by Dorizas years ago, and seafood dishes will be better than ever. Experience the flavors of Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Amphora will be open every day from 5pm to 2am, except Sundays, when the restaurant will close at midnight. A light menu will be offered after 10:30pm. For more information, call 773.262.5767.

I ate tonight at Amphora. I had actually aimed to dine at African Harambee, having mistakenly thought that the openings and closings post had identified it as open, but it's still closed tighter than a drum.

Amphora was very attractive -- lots of dark wood and open space -- and everyone who worked there was so tremendously friendly and eager to please that I hope they do well. I think it will be a good, solid, neighborhood restaurant -- but I don't see it being a destination place. The food was quite good, but the menu is confused, and if you're looking for Mediterranean, it might disappoint you. With fried smelts, shrimp DeJonghe, and saganaki on offer, it's more Mid-west than Mid-terr. That, and they describe a dish as being marinated in evoo, which made me chuckle, given the lengthy discussion here on LTH regarding RR's use of the expression.

That said, the olive oil on the table, for use with the bread, was wonderful -- a rich Greek imported evoo (sorry) with a complex, fruity taste. It reminded me of olive oil I've actually had in the Mediterranean. A list of appetizer/light meal "flat breads" offers Cyprus, Margherita, Athenian, Tuscan, and Traditional versions. These are crisp, thin-crusted pizza-like novelties. We tried the Cyprus version, which was topped with garlic, dill, and goat cheese puree, tomato, caramelized onions, chopped scallions, and really flavorful olives. it was very tasty.

Someone needs to tell the waiter or the restaurant what baccala is. They offer baccala cod cakes, and these were described to me as like crab cakes only made with fresh cod instead of crab. Baccala means salt cod, so, aside from smiling at the redundancy of salt cod cod cakes, I wondered what ordering this would produce -- if they were baccala or fresh cod. However, I opted instead for mushroom-stuffed ravioli in a four-cheese sauce with toasted pine nuts. This was quite pleasant. The sauce was flavorful and warmed with a hint of nutmeg. The portobello mushroom filling didn't have enough flavor, however, to stand up to the sauce. But I still enjoyed it.

The Mount Vesuvius dessert was a big hit -- a warm, molten-centered, flourless chocolate cake topped by vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and a strawberry, it was really well executed.

There is a nice, neighborhoody sort of wine list, with glass and half-bottle options and a number of nice offerings, and a menu of froofy martinis (banana, lemon drop).

I have friends and family in Rogers Park, so I can imagine going back again. I wouldn't make a special trip, but everything was good enough, and the people were warm, enthusiastic, and eager to see the place do well. (As we were about to leave, our waiter said, "Please tell people about us, so we do well.") For the sake of the people, I hope it succeeds.

I ate at Amphora a couple of weeks ago, right after they first opened. I had a good/bad experience, and was hoping that somebody else would post about the place first. I hate to judge a place based on one opening week experience. I actually wrote several comments, but didn't post them.

On the whole, the food was pretty good. There were a couple of small problems (under-ripe tomatoes in the otherwise stellar caprese), and a few odd culinary choices, but I really sensed a nascent talent in the kitchen. I will post a more in-depth review with a few (not so great) pictures in the next few days. I will say that the rack of lamb, which was pricey for Rogers Park, was probably the best I have ever eaten (I eat a lot of lamb). I also loved the bottle of kalamata olive oil on the table. The buffala mozzarella in the caprese was excellent, as was the basil (despite the so-so tomatoes). They also have a few decent wines by the glass for $5-$7.

As Cynthia noted, the service was indeed extremely "enthusiastic". However, for me it crossed into being extremely annoying very quickly. I know our server was only performing the management approved shtick (she was also training a new server), and she seemed like a genuinely friendly person, but by the end of the meal I really wanted to ask her to shut up. Usually, I don't let service, good or bad, influence my opinion of a meal, but I am afraid to return to Amphora because of the relentless Bennigan's style proactive salesmanship disguised as "helpful advice"... See, now I am ranting, which is the reason I erased the last 4 posts I wrote about this place.

Anyhow, the food was pretty good. The service was very attentive, despite the overly "enthusiastic" waitstaff making an otherwise decent meal stressful. The room had not changed all that much since it was the Gateway Grill except for the addition of some poorly chosen lighting fixtures (more about that later also). The decor consisted of mostly generic "Mediterranean" tchotchkes purchased from the Marshall's next door, including several eponymous amphorae which hung from the ceiling on wires like Daliesque disco-balls. Oh yeah, and the Ed Paschke Chicago celebrity murals are gone. Hopefully they were not just painted over.

d4v3 wrote: Oh yeah, and the Ed Paschke Chicago celebrity murals are gone. Hopefully they were not just painted over.

Thanks; I'd been wondering about them...I also hope they were somehow removed and sent elsewhere, but I think that's too much to hope.

Any timeline posted at Harambee? I contributed to the confusion because I'd posted that I'd seen a mid-May opening advertised somewhere, I swear....

Last night I had the pleasure of sharing a birthday dinner with a dozen friends at the newly opened African Harambee. In short, I'm extremely happy to welcome them to Rogers Park.

My enthusiasm for Ethiopian Diamond has been professed here before. It's safe to say that everyone who likes Ethiopian Diamond will like African Harambee. Among our party last night, not everyone thought it was better but everyone seemed to really enjoy the meal.

The menu has a lot to offer (see the end for scans), and as a sizeable group, we opted to simplify things. We asked the house to "just feed us," so they came up with a vegetarian-only platter and another (x 3) with a variety of meat dishes.



In the very foreground is yemisir watt (red lentil stew). Front left is Chicken Peanut Stew, front right is lamb -- it might be "Turmeric Ela" but I'm not sure. In the rear and hard to see are a beef dish, probably PiriPiri Nyama, and a shrimp and tilapia dish, which I think was Che Bu Gen.

You'll note that it looks like the food is served in typical Ethiopian style, but I think that's just a concession to serving a large group. Sisay (and the menu) indicated that you can substitute rice, couscous, bread, chapatti, or ugali for the injera.

I found the yemisir watt particularly tasty for a dish I've had several times; it had a slightly unique spice profile that I really enjoyed. I also very much liked the seafood stew.

I'm looking forward to going back and trying more of the menu, because everything looks appealing.

Somebody took this arty shot with my camera:


Attention is payed to the last detail: the check is presented in a decorated folder:




Redecorating was not the primary focus:


and here is the menu scanned:

Thanks for the review, Joe. I noticed this place was open now, and wanted to try it. I am glad they are open for lunch (attention Evanston Lunch Group). I also plan to give Amphora another shot. For the most part, the food I had there was pretty good.

Seems that neither place really did much in the way of redecorating. I noticed that the chairs at African Harambee are the same ones from "My Place For ?". At Amphora, they had beautiful new plates, but the same old crappy silverware from Gateway, which no doubt also dates back to MPF?. At any rate, I hope both successful.

Joe, thanks for the review. Since it's only a relatively short drive, this moves it up on the selected short list of places to try soon. I am curious, though, for your opinion. Ethiopian, despite years of trying, has never made it onto my (admittedly rather eclectic, if overlarge) list of "favorite" cuisines. I'm not quite sure what I should attribute that to, but in the end the reason may be less important. What I wonder is: do you think someone who is less than fond of Ethiopian will nevertheless like this place and its food? The pictures and menu sound intriguing, and I'm inclined to give it a whirl no matter what. In part, that is due to the fact that the menu is clearly not Ethiopian-focused. But I just wondered what your thoughts might be. Thanks.

Ooh, I'm very excited about this place! I really enjoy Ethiopian, but my husband doesn't like to go with me for the sole reason that he hates injera. Now I can drag him along and just order with rice!

Gypsy Boy wrote:I am curious, though, for your opinion. Ethiopian, despite years of trying, has never made it onto my (admittedly rather eclectic, if overlarge) list of "favorite" cuisines. I'm not quite sure what I should attribute that to, but in the end the reason may be less important. What I wonder is: do you think someone who is less than fond of Ethiopian will nevertheless like this place and its food?

GB:

Can you be any more specific about why Ethiopian hasn't made the list, even if only by how it falls short of things that are on the list?

If what you don't like is injera, or eating with your fingers, then there's hope there, as GardenofEatin observed.

But if what you don't like is the kind of gloppy, formless nature of most Ethiopian food, all I can say is that the dishes that were new to me felt like they were in the same vein (as the pictures probably testify.) (And by the way, I use "gloppy, formless nature" in the most affectionate sense ) What's your position on Indian food?

If it's about the seasoning or spice profile, I don't think I have enough experience with the rest of the menu (yet) to offer an opinion. I'm open to being called into service as an adjunct diner at AH, if you need backup!

When in doubt, I suggest that people order tibs. Ethiopian Diamond's doro tibs are one of my all time favorites, and as they are served "dry" and are basically just a bunch of chunks of chicken with peppers and onions, they seem like the most accessible possible thing on the menu. Since we didn't order, I didn't ensure my chance to try African Harambee's tibs, but you can bet they'll be on the table next time I go. The other suggestion, of course, is to go with a big enough group that you can reasonably try lots of different things.

I guess if you go and aren't satisfied with the food, you can just pop next door to Amphora for the classic LTH "try, try again" meal.

Ah Mr. Joe. What a reasonable, expectable, and thoroughly pertinent question. I actually thought about trying to address it in my original post. I didn't because I'm not sure I can. I think it's partly the injera. Now, while I like sour foods almost without except, there is something in the injera that doesn't appeal. And there is the gloppiness factor. Perhaps, I think most likely, it is the spices/herbs (or lack thereof) that I find problematic. I don't know enough of Ethiopian food to identify one or more specific items, but my best guess is that that's the arena where the problem lies. Does that help?

odd,

since you haven't indicated that indian food is also out of the favorite food rings, and most of the spices in ethiopian food are also found across the ocean in india. I was a little surprised how much so when speaking to the folks at the kikuyu market. One spice that probably shows up more often in ethiopian food is IIRC correctly lovage or ajwain, which is often added to the clarified butter before cooking (something you don't see much in india) though ajwain would be used in many battered fried items, especially in the north.

Thanks joe for the write-up, I've been meaning to try out harambee when it opens up and now will have more reason to do so.

zim wrote:odd, since you haven't indicated that indian food is also out of the favorite food rings, and most of the spices in ethiopian food are also found across the ocean in india.

Well, as I said above, I'm simply not familiar enough with the spices and herbs used in Ethiopian food to know whether that is, in fact, what I find off-putting about it. However, I can attest that I generally enjoy Indian cuisines. Perhaps not the full heat of Vindaloo or some of the commoner dishes of Goa, and no doubt there are others I am not as enamored of, but in general, I find that I greatly enjoy food from many regions in India. So if it shares its spices with Ethiopian, then I am at a loss to explain my lack of interest in the latter. It's not so much that I actively dislike it as that I find it of little interest.

I have little experience of lovage or ajwain, though I know I have had them both. My suspicion--and it is no more than that--is that they are not the culprits. But then, my problem lies precisely in identifying what it is--or, perhaps better still, what it isn't--in Ethiopian cuisine that I find off-putting.

Gypsy Boy wrote:But then, my problem lies precisely in identifying what it is--or, perhaps better still, what it isn't--in Ethiopian cuisine that I find off-putting.

Well, then, I think this calls for empiricism. And no time like the present, while AH is still BYOB. C'mon up and try it out, and we'll get Zim there in person to wax philosophic on lovage and whoever else wants to show up to... well, eat and drink and be merry.

Since you don't actively dislike Ethiopian, it seems we could make sure that the balance of the evening is positive even if you walk away writing it off as mostly data acquisition.

germuska wrote:Well, then, I think this calls for empiricism. And no time like the present, while AH is still BYOB. C'mon up and try it out, and we'll get Zim there in person to wax philosophic on lovage and whoever else wants to show up to... well, eat and drink and be merry.

Now that there is fine idea, a capital idea. In fact, I think it's worth pursuing. So let me consult with the powers that be and perhaps I can post something on the ol' Events Board soon. Thanks for the suggestion!

Dinner last night at African Harambee was an unmitigated delight. The place was 90% empty, but the service was friendly and helpful (neither of us being veterans of this kind of food). The jollof rice (with lamb) was beautifully spiced-- just spicy enough, with a hint of sweetness-- with kind of a risottoey consistency. I had the bozena shiro (with beef), and a side of ugali, having no familiarity with either. It turned out to be a super-tasty berbere-based stew, with a side of a polenta-esque starch that you could ball-up and dip in the stew. (Or use the fork, provided.) The stew was oily, but appropriately oily, I thought (it was kind of like nehari, in that respect). It had more kick than the jollof rice.

I wish I had the vocabulary to describe this stuff better. The best I can do is: spicy, tasty and filling. Well, anyway, as mentioned before, alcohol is still Coming Soon, so it's BYO for now. They had no desserts to offer last night, though I get the feeling they're forthcoming.

This is the kind of restaurant you really root for. By the end of the night, African music was coming unselfconsciously from the kitchen. Just a lovely evening.

Last Sunday night, we had several dishes that were overall not bad, with fresh ingredients, though under-seasoned. Ironically, my worst photo of the night was of the best dish of the night – a dried fruit curry:



Fruit and curry is a favorite flavor combo of mine, and everyone at the table seemed to favor this selection.

The chicken we had was in a nicely flavored sauce, but the meat was remarkably dry, as though breast meat were simply cubed and then drenched with the sauce; there was little integration of flavors.



I’d like to like this place more. The people were very friendly, and it’s nice to have a pan-African restaurant (don’t like fufu, try injera), but based on my one visit, I’d not be inspired to return, though I think it very likely (based on previously very positive reviews) that I simply came on an off-night.

I just enjoyed a very pleasant lunch at Harambee. It wasn't a revelation (perhaps because I've been pursuing lots of African dining options this year), but everything was very tasty.

We started with African summer rolls, cigar-width "egg rolls" that are simply eggroll skins stuffed with seasoned beef, which are then fried until quite crisp and served with a spicy/sweet sauce.

I had iced tea, which was heavily flavored with clove (a major cash crop in East Africa). I ordered turmeric ela with chicken. Described as "cooked in a turmeric based sauce with ginger, bay leaves, garlic, and cilantro," I figured it couldn't be bad -- and it really was delicious, though it needed a bit of salt. I had it with ugali, which is like very heavy grits. (African food seems to always be served with a considerable amount of starch.) I enjoyed the ugali -- it was bland but, perhaps because I like grits, seemed much nicer than fuufuu. My brother had PiriPiri Nyama with lamb, which was flavorful and spicy, though not blindingly hot. He had it with injera. This injera was slightly more sour than what I've eaten elsewhere, but was still very good, especially with the food. (As we learned at the Ghanaian restaurant, sometimes something acid makes a sour starch quite delicious.)

The side dishes were wonderful -- a cooked down lentil or pea dish of some sort (the waitress told me the name, but she spoke quickly, and the item was not on the menu -- but it was pale yellow-green and nicely flavored) and Sukuma Wiki, which means "pushing the week" -- a melange of veggies, heavy on the cabbage, cooked in a mild sauce.

I was sorry that the place was so empty. Of course, lunch on Saturdays is probably not indicative of a restaurant's success. But the people were lovely, and I'd like to see them do well. The food was all well prepared and interesting, and the people seemed to care about what they were doing.

I'm interested in getting back to AH and trying some more things -- any general interest in an LTH outing? Can we call it "the Gypsy Boy experiment"?

I know, "post it on the events board..." I will, but thought I'd solicit some general discussion (or PMs) before picking a date totally at random. It's so close to home for me, I am totally flexible about timing.

I would certainly be interested...Wednesdays are out for me but I'm fairly flexible for other nights...

I've been wanting to try it ... I'll keep an eye on the Events board.

"We are not responsible for lost or stolen items."

germuska wrote:I'm interested in getting back to AH and trying some more things -- any general interest in an LTH outing?

I'd be interested. My best friend has been sending me food reports from Ghana and Guinea all summer, so I'm eager to broaden my experience with African food.

As I posted in the openings and closings thread, as of a few months ago African Harambee is now Ethiopian Diamond 2. Maybe someone who has been there since the change can provide further info.

happy_stomach wrote:I'd be interested. My best friend has been sending me food reports from Ghana and Guinea all summer, so I'm eager to broaden my experience with African food.

If you're looking for food from Ghana, I think Palace Gates is your best bet. However, it doesn't really cater to non-Ghanaians, so you might want to try to find someone who is knowledgeable.

Having just watched the episode of No Reservations were Anthony Bourdain visits Ghana, I'm about ready for a trip back, too -- though this time I hope to get there while the African grocery store that's two stores down is still open.

Palace Gate
4548 North Magnolia Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640

I have been to Ethiopian Diamond II three times since it has opened but admittedly never made it to African Harambee. Therefore, I can make no statements about the changes but I am a huge fan of the current restaurant. I had been to the original Ethiopian Diamond numerous times and enjoyed it to varying degrees. Sometimes I found the spices a little too restrained and oddly bland. In any case, that has not been the case on my three visits to the outpost on Clark. Everything we have had has been incredibly flavorful and what they claim to be spicy is actually wonderfully spiced with complex flavors that leave a lovely lingering burn in your mouth (I mean that in the best possible way). Like the original, there is live music at least on the weekends but it does not usually start until 9 or 10.