Back when I was in high school, my Mom was in the middle of getting her PhD, so my Dad and I would go out to eat for dinner frequently, trying the huge diversity of ethnic cuisine in high tech college town Boulder, Colorado and leaving my Mom alone for 3 hours of quiet time. We were from Michigan, where mild taco sauce was deemed “ooooh, too spicy eh?” but we loved new, exotic flavors.

We saw a review and an ad for a new Ethiopian restaurant, and I asked Dad “ever try Ethiopian food?” he said “nope” and off we went. It was 5 miles south of town at a highway interchange and appeared to be a converted old gas station. All of 6 tables inside.

We ordered a “combination plate” so as to try as many different things as we could, and soon the owner/chef brought out a huge tray of a dozen small dishes surrounding a pile of Injera bread. There was no silverware, just napkins.

We sat there looking very puzzled for a moment, then the owner (who had a very limited command of English) ripped off a piece of bread, dipped in some sort of yummy lentil dish, and shoved it in my Dad’s mouth with her bare hands, then she did the same for me, managing to get across that the bread was the spoon in Ethiopia.

THAT was a new one for us! The meal was huge, inexpensive, and delicious. The restaurant moved to a better location in Boulder, which got too expensive, and then to 2 locations after that. They finally settled 2 years ago in a nice spot in Lafayette, just outside Boulder.

Same chef and owner, 30 years later. Not sure if Tsehay Hailu still feeds customers by hand but I bet she would if you look too puzzled. The restaurant is called Ras Kassa, by the way. Worth the short trip.