I’m so excited to tell you about one of my favorite places in the whole-wide Bay Area: the Ethiopian food restaurant, Café Colucci.
To start, visually the food is stunning. A typical meal will consist of two to three entrés being served on a single large, metal disk over a bed of injera. Glowing from the platter are rich yellows, greens, and, of course, deep crimson of the classic Ethiopian spice, berbere.
Presented this way, set in the middle of the table, diners enter into a culinary experience that is uniquely communal. With all of us tearing off flaps of injera to wrap around morsels of lentils, collard greens, meats, and more, I feel a much stronger connection to the folks sharing the meal with me than if we were served on individual plates.
It’s like the diners become spokes of a wheel, each of our gazes trending to the center focal point of the platter of food.
And make no mistake: the food, itself, is fantastic.
On my last trip there, Whitney, her mom, and I shared a two entrées: the vegetarian combo and one of the fish plates: Assa Gored Gored.
The veggie combo plate combines Azifa (a lentil salad), Buticha (a chickpea hummus), messer wot (spiced lentils), Kik Alicha (a yellow split pea stew), Gomen (cooked collard greens), and Atakilt (a combination of potatoes, carrots, and cabbage).
The Assa Gored Gored came out in lightly sautéd cubes mixed in a dish that felt like eating a lightly spiced cloud.
Together, the blend of flavors and textures of the food on the platter, delivered in vehicle after vehicle of soft injera, makes for an abundantly sumptuous and satisfying culinary experience.
For the three of us, two entrées worked out just fine. We bounced from different regions of the platter, eventually revealing stretches of the bottom layer of injera which had absorbed much of the spices and flavor of the different foods that had rested on it.
By the time that lower layer of injera is revealed, a lot of diners are pretty full. Somehow I seem to have a second stomach for that :). Whitney loves that they also offer gluten-free injera made from teff flour, along with fun menu items like teff cake and Ethiopian spiced tea. For a special cooking adventure, they also offer cooking classes and have a spice store next door.
Another part of my love for Café Colucci is that they have nailed the atmosphere. The walls are a bright yellow and covered with paintings, with drapes looping across the dining hall. There’s no TV, which for me, personally, is a big plus. The main dining hall is lined with tables that can be easily pushed together to accommodate groups of different sizes. And the tables are custom made to display an array of different spices and dried grains, making for a visually engaging experience in and of itself.
Plus, the restaurant is usually full of customers, which always gives a restaurant an upbeat, “happening place” vibe.
On that Saturday night that the three of us went there, I was surprised because there were several empty tables and we didn’t have to wait at all. I was worried, honestly! Has something happened, here? Is it not the same anymore?
Fortunately, more and more people steadily trickled in, until every table was taken and the restaurant had energetic, warm buzz that I always appreciated about it.
DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR ALL OF THIS: Go and experience the place for yourself! Let us know how it goes in the comments!
Café Colucci (est 1991)
6427 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland
Open everyday from 8am to 10pm
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