Open only since the beginning of September, Wass will win more than its share of adoring traffic simply for what it is: an Ethiopian restaurant. Local diners who’ve previously had to travel to Toronto or Montreal to enjoy this dizzyingly delicious cuisine will find their years of dutiful prayers answered at Wass. They’ll also find themselves in good company – the owners confess that until very recently, they made that same journey.
Astute city watchers will know that the walk-down space at the corner of James South and Forest has enjoyed multiple lives: recently a place called Gojo, before that Moose Bar and Grill, and before that the long-running Forest Gate Restaurant. You’re forgiven for forgetting any of those spots, though, because they went out of their way to be numbingly middle-of-the-road. Not so Wass, which makes a lasting impression even in its soft-launch days. In the short time they've been open, they’ve drawn more than their share of happy diners, some repeatedly. A lot of people are going to be very pleased to find this new arrival, and many will doubtless become passionate regulars.
It’s often said that Ethiopia’s culture has never been watered down by colonization, which is why it has remained vibrant and well-defined over the centuries; only in recent decades has western influence become pronounced, and even then the most damning evidence seems to be the production tics of Ethiopian pop music. That promise of authenticity is part of what draws people to this cuisine. It’s also why the decor at Wass might strike some as a little skewed – a wall-hanging of Emperor Haile Selassie seems par for the course, while bland factory-pressed art and saccharine pastels (still-lifes of farm roads, gingerbread homesteads and kitchen produce) do not. Tables are crisply and simply fitted with golden and black cloths, but the space is fairly humble on the whole. Then again, few people go to beloved spots like Himalya or Mex-I-Can for the scenery. And besides, your other senses will be occupied. The air is usually filled with Amharic music and the scent of frankincense, which swirls from a censer during the traditional coffee ceremony that closes a feast.
Two things. First, this is not a place to go if you're in a hurry, because you'll want to linger over a meal, preferably with good friends. Some might get caught off guard by the appreciative pace of things. The second caveat should be more obvious when it comes to Ethiopian food: You use your hands, so don’t bring your Purell-addicted friends. They’ll only spoil your meal, especially when it comes to gursha, the hand-feeding of friends that’s considered a bond of trust.
The Wass menu, while not exhaustive, lays out a host of options for the adventurous palate. Spicy to varying degrees, it encompasses lamb, chicken, beef and a host of vegetarian dishes. (They also offer a standard North American breakfast, though initially their hours – they open at noon – seem to make that a non-starter. Hopefully an Ethiopian breakfast is also in the card eventually.) The prices are extremely reasonable, and actually pretty uniform – whatever your main, you'll end up paying between $10 and $14, in exchange for which you'll end up with enough food to fill you to bursting.
Aiming to get the widest sampling in my first visit, I opted for a Vegetarian Combo, which was a tasters of six dishes -- Tikil Gomen (Cabbage, carrots and potatoes cooked in turmeric, garlic and ginger), Gomen Wat (collard greens cooked to perfection with red onion and spices), Yekik Alicha (a zesty yellow split pea stew), Yemiser Wat (a thick stew of split red lentils simmered in spicy berbere sauce, a chili-based spice blend that packs a curry-like heat), Keyser and Dinitch (a sweet, tender and fantastic beet-potato salad), Misir Alitcha (pureed split red lentil are simmered in mild sauce) -- with injera, a cool spongy pancake-like bread that’s something like a cross between a crepe and a crumpet, and is used much as naan bread is with Indian food – as a sort of edible utensil. The plate didn’t seem that daunting when I started in on it, but it was more than enough. The injera is both foundation to the meal, in its role as a foot-wide base for the food, and a side, where it arrives in compact rolls. And it's extremely edible, which is partly why I was absolutely stuffed at $12.
The owner and his staff are incredibly gracious and their warm smiles will fill your heart before you’ve eaten a single bite. Offered a free espresso to start the evening, I was also dealt into a complementary coffee ceremony at the end of the meal. Coffee aficionados may want to give Wass a look on these grounds alone. The ceremony sees you witness the full life-cycle of coffee, from the roast (beans are brought around in a searing pan) to the brew dispensed from a traditional jebena, (clay pot) into a half-dozen cini (coffee cups the size of sake cups). Drawn out in this manner, your appreciation for the beverage becomes deeper and more complex. I had to call a friend to rave about the experience afterward, which was uncharacteristic but impossible to avoid. (Even if you're not comped, it's cheap enough to investigate: $10 for six cups.)
On a return trip, I went for the Lamb Wat, a thick and spicy stew served with delectable sections of lamb on the bone, which called for a little care in eating but presented no painful regrets. Tender and rich, the lamb flaked easily from the bone and its hearty spice tested the mellowing characteristic of the ubiquitous injera. (Meat dishes and wats tend to be among the spicier items on the menu, while vegetable dishes are generally milder.) Again, it was a winner.
A third visit found me going with the Doro Wat, spicy chicken stew simmered in berbere and served with a served with a pair of drumsticks and a whole hard-boiled egg, alongside diced garlic spinach and finely crumbled goat's cheese. A classic Ethiopian dish made with attention to detail, it delighted the eye as much as the tongue. On that trip I was joined by the friend I had called after my first visit. An avowed fan of Toronto’s Ethiopian House, he had Wass’ Vegetarian Combo and was thoroughly impressed – and ultimately just as taken by the place as I had been. Although the meal summoned up some old memories, it also brought with it the realization that this is a place that would one day be central to sweet anecdotes of its own. Hosted with the same amiable generosity that marked the first visit, we left with the kind of glow that comes along all too rarely, smiling so broadly that we were practically laughing. What else could you do, really?
