Ethiopian food stewing, bakery rising
Taffach Ethiopian, Estelle Bakery, Wildhorse Golf Club, Aggie Yogurt, Fluffy Donuts, Papa Murphy’s, Davis Bikes & Skateboards, True Focus Sports and Jackson Temple Spirits in this business column
Welcome to the first real Comings & Goings column on Substack! Many thanks to all the paid subscribers and people behind the scenes who made this happen. Now, let’s get to business …
→ Ethiopian food in our future: Two local families are turning the former Bones Craft Kitchen into a restaurant that serves their native cuisine. The owners of Taffach Ethiopian Restaurant hope to have it open in late July or early August. It’s at 113 D St.
I spoke with Wondimagegn Shewa, who owns the restaurant with Hailu Waldyohnse. Shewa is a chemistry professor at Sacramento City College, and earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from UC Davis. Waldyohnse lives in Davis and Shewa is a former Davis resident who moved to Spring Lake in Woodland.
The wives will do the cooking. The restaurant will focus on high-quality, authentic Ethiopian cuisine. “That’s a missing flavor that Davisites need to savor,” Shewa said.
Ethiopian food is traditionally eaten with your hands, using a sourdough pancake-like flatbread called injera. It’s made with teff flour and naturally gluten-free. Utensils will be available for those who wish, and rice will be an alternative for people who don’t care for injera’s sour flavor.
Davis previously had an Ethiopian restaurant, Queen Sheba, at 213 E St., from 2010 to 2011. It still has an eatery in Sacramento.
→ A bakery this summer? A July completion is the target for the new Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie. I spoke with a source close to the project, who said there’s been multiple changes with the plans, causing lots of back and forth with the architect.
It’s filling the former Konditorei space at 2710 Fifth St. Construction began in early November but the eatery still appears gutted inside. Estelle has locations at 2530 Arden Way in Sacramento, and 615 David Stern Walk, No. 100, in the DOCO area of downtown Sacramento. Check out its website.