New Ethiopian Restaurant Opens in Oakland

Nardi Restaurant is owned and operated by chef Nardos Alemu, who brings experience from running a previous restaurant in Ethiopia. The new eatery is located on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Pill Hill neighborhood, situated next to the former site of the iconic Taste of Denmark bakery. The restaurant carves a unique niche by focusing on traditional breakfast, a rarity in the local Ethiopian and Eritrean culinary scene which has historically centered on lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu is available from the restaurant's 8 a.m. opening, catering to a morning crowd with authentic dishes from the Horn of Africa. Menu highlights include *enkulal firfir*, a dish of scrambled eggs served with spiced sauce and torn pieces of injera, the traditional spongy flatbread. Other notable breakfast items are *ful*, a vegetarian preparation of slow-cooked fava beans, and *genfo*, a thick barley porridge served with a well of spiced, clarified butter in the center. For more adventurous palates, Nardi offers *dulet*, a breakfast dish made with minced and sautéed liver and beef. Nardi's opening adds to the rich history of Ethiopian and Eritrean food culture in Oakland. This culinary scene began to flourish in the 1980s, largely along Telegraph Avenue, as immigrants and refugees established a vibrant community and introduced the flavors of their homeland to the Bay Area.