Food: Desta Ethiopian Kitchen

One of the best things about living in America is the ready access to different cultures. Atlanta has a large Ethiopian immigrant community, for instance, and I got to sample their cuisine at Desta Ethiopian Kitchen, a restaurant on Briarcliff Road.

Ethiopian food has a number of similarities with other culinary traditions (the heavy use of spices reminded us of Indian food). The staple bread is injera, a flatbread made from fermented flour (think sourdough). Injera has the consistency of spongecake, and it's pretty tasty:

After an appetizer of fitfit (cold, broken-up pieces of injera mixed with spices and vegetables) and some Ethiopian honey wine (a little sweet for my taste), it was time for the main course. We ordered some tibs (sort of like an Ethiopian stir-fry stew), grabbed pieces of injera, and went to town:

I can't say it was love at first bite, but as I got used to the spices, I really started to dig the food. Again, the closest thing that comes to mind is Indian food, but it's not a great comparison - the spices being used at Desta were completely different. Since this was my first time eating Ethiopian cuisine, I have no way of rating how authentic the food was, so let's just give Desta Ethiopian Kitchen

2/4 stars (3/4 stars if you've never eaten Ethiopian food)