Food is nutrients. Food is identity. Food is connection. Food is love. Food has been passed down from generation to generation as a way to connect to our ancestors and explore other cultural identities. In times of happiness and in times of need, preparing and sharing food with people you love solidifies a bond. Despite being physically distanced, we invite you to join us in reaching across the [metaphorical] table and connect with friends online to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year. By coming together for a night of soul-enriching cooking, you can help support our local small businesses and receive some much needed TLC.

How it works:
- Complete your registration below to help EPIP LA coordinate and track participants for the evening.
- Purchase your $40 Misir Wot (vegan spicy lentil stew) here and make sure to select your pickup date as September 16, the day before the event.
- Pick up your kit on September 16 at Azla Vegan in Leimert Park.
- Tune in on September 17 for a personalized cooking session and conversation with Nesanet Teshager Abegaze from Azla Vegan.

This experience is accessible to all levels of cooks, from the experienced chef to the novice spoon holder (ahem, me). Above all, we want to gather in solidarity and support our small businesses.

What your Misir Wot Kit includes:
It will include dry red lentils, silz (tomato and onion reduction with berbere spice blend), minced garlic, Injera (Ethiopian flatbread), and a recipe card for two servings. Participants will need olive oil, and sea salt.

Meet Azla Vegan:
Azla Vegan is a plant-based Ethiopian restaurant in South Central Los Angeles. Azla Vegan grew out of a family tradition of gathering every Sunday for a meal and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Azla Vegan’s values reflect its core belief that in today’s fast-paced world, the proverbial dinner table holds the potential to help us find our way again. Azla Vegan welcomes all guests at its Leimert Park restaurant with the same passion and hospitality that founder, Chef Azla, exhibits in her home kitchen. With art and storytelling at its core, Azla Vegan exists to nourish our community on every level. As we say in Ethiopia, Enebla!

Meet Our Chef:
Nesanet Teshager Abegaze is an entrepreneur, educator, and storyteller. As a former teacher and school administrator, Nesanet infused art and film into her curriculum and sponsored various programs to help students uncover their inherent ability to tell their own stories. Currently, Nesanet’s work as the co-owner of Azla allows her to combine her passion for food, community, and filmmaking into her daily practice. Nesanet has planned and collaborated with various community members to provide extensive arts programming at Azla since it’s inception in 2013.

Nesanet holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, a Masters in Education from UCLA, and worked in the education, non-profit, and entertainment industries before co-founding Azla with her mother, Azla Mekonen.