Marcus Samuelsson, adopted from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, has opened yet another restaurant: Marcus Addis, located on the 47th floor of the tallest building in east Africa.
His other restaurants are in the U.S., Canada, the Bahamas, Sweden, and Norway. And now, Ethiopia.
Congratulations, Chef Samuelsson! The restaurant business is an unbelievably competitive one, and you have clearly risen to the top.
Marcus Addis, promoted as “Marcus’s first restaurant in Africa,” had its grand opening less than a month ago. The menu reflects “a fusion of Marcus’ world renowned international cuisine with an unforgettable Ethiopian twist.” There’s a Mercato Bread Basket, Fish and Teff, Addis York (fried chicken, doro wat, cured egg, stuffed injera), Mac and Cheese (with injera-cheddar crumble), Berbere Fries, and many other options.
This is an exciting, if complicated, new venture. Ethiopia continues to struggle with war, poverty, and famine; Tigray is especially riddled with all of that, and the rest of the country is certainly affected as well. The U.S. State Department warns about civil unrest, violence, armed conflict, and crime.
Ethiopia is also a beautiful, historic country with farmers, scholars, artists, business people, builders, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and tourism experts. Ethiopia’s top exports are gold and coffee. It has so much potential, and is burdened by its erratic weather, bureaucracy, politics, inflation, and ethnic/tribal conflicts. Tuberculosis—a preventable and curable disease—kills 19,000 people every year in Ethiopia.
Marcus Addis will not solve those problems, of course. That said, according to this Semafor article, few investors have been interested in opening restaurants in Ethiopia recently, so Samuelsson’s new place may bring renewed economic investment. Samuelsson says, “I am proud of my Ethiopian roots..I want my new restaurant in Addis Ababa to be a vehicle for job creation, capacity building, a training hub that works for — not against — traditional local Ethiopian restaurants.”
Further, according to Semafor, “Marcus Addis will be used as a ‘vehicle to teach’ and improve local hospitality standards, Ethiopia’s National Bank Governor Mamo Mihertu told Semafor Africa. He said he hopes it will ‘secure world class training and create employment opportunities here at home and abroad while complementing the local hospitality sector.’ “
I hope so too.
An upscale restaurant in a fancy Addis skyscraper will no doubt create some raised eyebrows, political concerns, and negative remarks. Ethiopia has many real and heartbreaking challenges, and a new restaurant is not a solution in itself.
I’d like to think, though, that Samuelsson’s persona, accomplishments, and confidence about opening a new restaurant in Ethiopia will perhaps create some hope for Ethiopia’s future. Marcus Samuelsson was born In Ethiopia, one of 9 children, in 1971. Due to his mother’s death and the turmoil of the civil war at that time, he and an older sister were adopted to Sweden when Marcus was about three years old. His Swedish grandmother influenced his decision to go into cooking and culinary arts.
Like many Ethiopians in the diaspora, Samuelsson is among the adoptees traveling to and investing in the homeland. How his adoptee status will impact his work there, if at all, remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping for peace and healing in Ethiopia, for stability, clean water, and health care for everyone, and for literacy, economic equity, and safety. Ethiopian food is delicious: may this synthesis with Swedish cuisine be successful.
And if anyone can help us get “Lions Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees” to Marcus Samuelsson, please let me know. Five of his compatriots (Swedish Ethiopian adoptees) wrote essays in our book. We will happily send him a copy!