The perhaps-apocryphal story about an Ethiopian goatherd noticing his charges acting excitedly after consuming the fruit of a certain mountain bush notwithstanding, Ethiopia is the cradle of coffee, and Tana Ethiopian Restaurant owner Shewaye Zeleke wants to make sure would-be drinkers have time for it because she starts with green coffee beans. After being roasted by hand over coals, the beans are ground and mixed with boiling water in a traditional coffee urn balanced atop a colorful woven trivet. Zeleke parades the tray, with a brazier of frankincense throwing fragrant smoke, all around the restaurant. When it is set down, take one of the tiny cups and pour the coffee from a height to aerate and cool it. The coffee is as strong as hell and needs sugar just to be palatable, but a few sips will send anyone on a pleasurable caffeine high.
