I missed this review by Eve Zibart when it was published a couple of weeks ago. I have eaten at this restaurant three times since they opened, and can confirm that it is always an exceedingly pleasant experience. It is located in the shopping center just north of Montgomery Avenue, with the FedEx/Kinko’s and the Hudson Trail Outfitters. It is on the right end of the smaller building on the north side of the parking lot.
Gaithersburg’s snug Addis Cafe, an Ethiopian eatery and mini-market that opened over the summer, is the first commercial venture for owners Jonas and Naomi Todd, but Naomi’s family has been in the business a long time (her father owned a coffee-roasting business in Addis Ababa, and an aunt has a restaurant in Las Vegas). And she points to containers for sale of mitmita, a dry, rust-colored mix of ground chilies, cardamom and coarse salt used to flavor kitfo, the Ethiopian steak tartare, which her family packages.
But the food is the draw, and Jonas, who has taken on head chef duties while Naomi greets and serves, has taken grandma’s recipes to heart. The vegetable dishes are distinct and flavorful: The red lentils are cooked through but not pasty, which makes a nice contrast to the pureed yellow split peas, and the collard greens are the best version a homesick Southern girl could want (second most comforting: the potato, cabbage and carrot stew).
The tibs, small strip-cut meat (sometimes lamb, but here beef) in a spicy sauce, is tender and without a trace of the grittiness that carelessly prepared sauces can carry. Tibs can be ordered as a sandwich, which is likely to become a legend among area students and workers.
Addis Cafe’s other big draw is coffee — strong, aromatic Ethiopian coffee, the beans roasted locally and made in an espresso-style machine. Famous-name coffee will never seem the same.
