Traditional Ethiopian Music and Dance Will Kick Off Vegetarian Awareness Month at Montclair Restaurant

   

Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant to feature Ethiopian Music and Dance group on U.S. tour to Celebrate Global Vegetarian Awareness Day

Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant, a family-owned restaurant in Montclair,  NJ specializing in Ethiopian cuisine, will kick off Vegetarian Awareness Month with traditional Ethiopian music and dance on October 1, 2010.

The restaurant will also feature a completely vegan menu for the occasion, and introduce 2 new vegan specials to celebrate the start of Vegetarian Awareness Month. A new pumpkin stew, Duba Quanta, and Portobello Mushroom Stew, Ingudai Quanta will be featured on the menu for the first time.  Ethiopian jerky is traditionally made with beef, but patrons can enjoy these dishes prepared vegan style.

The one night only performance at Mesob will feature Zena Bel Band, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and two Ethiopian dancers. True to the tradition of the wandering azmari musicians from the Ethiopian countryside, the colorful performers will dance and play their instruments as they move throughout the restaurant.

The evening of Ethiopian music will feature the traditional drum "kebero" played by Asrat Ayalew, five-string acoustic violin, played by Kaethe Hostetter, evoking the "masinqo," a one-string bowed instrument, and vocalist, Selamnesh Zemene, specializing in the “azmari” style.

Joining Zena Bel Band will be two top Ethiopian dancers, Melaku Belay and Zinash Tsgegaye, of the Ethiopian dance troop, Fendika.  Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant was able to book the group for this Vegetarian Awareness month kick off, as the musicians and dancers are on their first North American tour with the well-known Boston- based Debo Band.

Berekti Mengistu, one of the two Ethiopian sisters who own Mesob, says, “We want to share just more than Ethiopian food with our community, but also our culture.  Many of our patrons are vegetarians and may not be aware that all of our vegetarian dishes are prepared vegan style.  This is because our Ethiopian vegetarian dishes evolved as Ethiopian Orthodox Christian fasting days restrict us from eating animal products.  Vegetarian Awareness Month is a perfect time to share our rich culture – not only with a special menu, but with our special music as well.”

A sharing of Ethiopian culture is part of the charm of this eclectic restaurant.  In Ethiopian culture, an "azmari bet," is a place where people come to listen and enjoy traditional Ethiopian music.  For this evening, Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant will become a vegan “azmari bet” something rarely seen in the U.S.

The Global Vegetarian Awareness Celebration music and dance event will have seatings at 7 and 9 pm.  Reservations are required.

Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant is located at 515 Bloomfield Avenue, in Montclair, NJ.  For reservations or more information, call 973-655-9000 or visit Mesob online at http://www.mesobrestaurant.com.

Ethiopian All You Can Eat Buffet and New Year Celebration

Catering at Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant of Montclair NJ

NEWS RELEASE – for Immediate Release                              September 2, 2010


All You Can Eat Ethiopian Buffet to be Hosted by Montclair, NJ Restaurant

Mesob Restaurant to ring in the Ethiopian New Year with its annual New Year Celebration September 11, 2010. 

September 2, 2010 –  Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant, a family-owned restaurant in Northern NJ specializing in Ethiopian cuisine, will host its annual all you can eat buffet on Saturday, September 11, 2010.
Mesob created the annual buffet event to celebrate Enkutatash, an important New Year festival for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, which include many of the restaurant’s regular customers, as well as the owner’s family and restaurant staff.

The restaurant will feature a fully catered spread including vegan dishes, meat and seafood dishes, and the 2 popular salad dishes the restaurant offers.


The all you can eat meat and seafood menu will include shrimp tibs, doro wat (chicken), doro tibs (chicken),  yebeg aletcha (lamb), tibs wat (beef), minchet aletcha (beef).  The two popular Mesob salad creations to be served include Ye’Mesob selata and Ye’Dinch selata. 

All vegetarian (vegan) dishes served at the restaurant will be offered at the buffet, including gomen (collard greens), tikile gomen (cabbage and potatoes), atkilt wat (green beans and carrots), miser wat (split lentils), buticha (pureed chickpeas), ingudai tibs (portobellos)and kik aletcha (yellow split peas).Because Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant offers vegan dining,

Enkutatash is an important festival in the lives of Ethiopians. After three months of heavy rains the sun comes out creating a beautiful clear fresh atmosphere. The highland fields turn to gold as the Meskal daisies burst into flower. For this reason, Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant will line its floors with grasses and yellow flower petals.

Berekti Mengistu, one of the two Ethiopian sisters who own Mesob, is very excited to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year with family, friends and restaurant patrons. “We want to share just more than Ethiopian food with our community, but also our culture.  That is why one of the happiest festivals is the perfect opportunity to open not only our doors but our menu.”  A sharing of the Ethiopian culture is part of the charm of this eclectic restaurant, located at 515 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, NJ.

David Corcoran, in his New York Times restaurant review says, “There is one thing you will certainly not want, and that is to leave.”

The New Year Celebration event and all you can eat buffet event will have seatings at 5, 7 and 9 pm and reservations are required.

Mesob Restaurant is located at 515 Bloomfield Avenue, in Montclair, NJ.  For reservations or more information, call 973-655-9000 or visit Mesob online at http://www.mesobrestaurant.com.