Beef sambusa, chicken lamprais and beef kabob entrees with hummus and garlic sauce are not dishes you would not see in a typical restaurant. These dishes all come from different continents but you can find them all within Orange County. 

Abyssinia

Abyssinia is an Ethiopian restaurant located in Anaheim. Mehari Woldeselassie is the current owner of this establishment after taking it over from his family members. Despite taking on a big role of owning the restaurant, he gets help sharing Ethiopian culture from his wife and two children.

In Ethiopia, they have multiple traditions when it comes to dining. One tradition Woldeselassie highlights in his restaurant is the “coffee ceremony.” He brought this tradition into his restaurant with the goal of introducing it to new customers and bringing everyone together to enjoy the fresh coffee. 

For this ceremony, employees roast coffee beans in front of the guests and serve them coffee in small cups. Due to the pandemic, Woldeselassie has not been able to do the coffee ceremony. He says, “Sometimes I do the coffee [ceremony] by myself just to smell the essence of it. It makes me sad.” He hopes that since more places are opening up, more people will come visit his restaurant and he is able to do the ceremony with customers again.

Rice and spice

Rice N’ Spice is a restaurant located in Fullerton that specializes in cooking and serving Sri Lanken cuisine. It’s a home feeling restaurant and as soon as you walk in the door, you can tell they love what they do.

Sri lankan food is made with a lot of spices. According to employee Charith, who provided his first name only due to safety reasons, says “Sri Lankan food is based on rice and curry. We use cinnamon, coriander as well as every dish containing curry powder with different amounts.” Cooking with these types of spices provides the cuisine with natural flavors and health benefits. Leaving the cultural belief of maintaining good energy while cooking is also an important benefit because as Charith says, “We think in our mind while eating this food healthy and happy… not cooking with anger or rush.” The chicken lamprais is one of the many dishes here at Rice N’ Spice. This dish contains chicken, rice, and various spices that are balanced out with pineapple. This is done to give the dish a sweet and spicy taste. So if you take interest in spicy cuisine, Rice N’ Spice is the place to visit. 

D’Vine

D’Vine is a restaurant that serves a mixture of Lebanese and Greek food owned by Walid Alarja, who got his passion for cooking from his mother. While she had her own restaurant in their home country, Alarja has nearly eight restaurants, including this location in Fullerton and throughout Southern California.

While he maintains eight restaurants, his passion for food doesn’t end with just his business. He mentions that the dishes on the menu from the restaurant are the same foods that he would make at his house, such as the garlic bread with fresh fruits and vegetables. The food on the menu is made from natural ingredients and hardly any oils, providing customers with the simplicity of food that Alarja and his family enjoy.