platter
notes: label: Description
content: White triangular serving platter used at DAS Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Ethiopian cuisine served family style on large serving trays and platters. The triangular shape of this dish mirrors the shape of a tent, or das, after which the restaurant was named. Owners of DAS Ethiopian restaurant, Sileshi Alifom and Elizabeth Wossen, named the restaurant DAS to honor the important role of tents in hosting large family gatherings and meals in Ethiopia.
label: Description
content: Alifom and Wossen chose to serve restaurant dishes on white plates as part of their larger efforts to create a neutral, international aesthetic in the restaurant’s dining space. Their goal was to direct patrons’ attention not towards the décor, but towards the vibrant and flavorful dishes served on the plate including: chicken doro wat, beef kaey watt, beef alicha, beef cubes segana gormen, plit peas, collard greens, and red lentils, among other Ethiopian specialties.
label: Description
content: Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sileshi Alifom and Elizabeth Wossen emigrated separately to the United States, Alifom at age seventeen and Elizabeth at 3. They were part of an initial wave of Ethiopians, mainly from middle and upper classes, who settled in and around Washington, D.C., in the 1960s and 1970s. For many of them, including Alifom and Wossen, D.C. provided educational and economic opportunities, and had a built-in support network for new migrants because of the presence of the Ethiopian embassy.
label: Description
content: A few years after Alifom migrated in the early 1970s, Civil War broke out in Ethiopia in 1974, and thousands of Ethiopians came to Washington, D.C. The 1970s war-time immigration led to the areas around the city boasting some of the largest Ethiopian communities in the United States. In 2017, U.S. Census Bureau data showed that around 5,000 Ethiopians were living in the District of Columbia. Other sources like the Ethiopian Community Development Center, suggest that there may be up to 100,000 living in the greater D.C.-area.
label: Description
content: Alifom and Wossen initially met at a party in Ethiopia when Wossen was on an academic break from her school in Europe and was visiting family. They were around 14 years old then. They re-met as adults in New York, Alifom was working in Connecticut at the time, and Wossen in D.C. They married and continued to pursue their careers in the hospitality industry and diplomacy, respectively.
label: Description
content: In 2011, after Alifom had retired from a 30-year career with Marriott hotels, they decided to take over a pre-existing Ethiopian restaurant in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. and rebranded it as DAS Ethiopian Restaurant. Das is the Ethiopian word for tent and is a reference to the use of a tent for large family gatherings and shared meals. Alifom and Wossen created a distinct interior décor fashioned after the international look and feel of the hospitality industry: white tablecloths, cream colored walls, white plates and napkins, and black and white photos. In the dining room, they play international jazz music, seeking to provide a welcoming space for visitors from around the globe. Their clientele consists of local Georgetown residents but also many visitors of D.C.
label: Description
content: Alifom and Wossen took seriously their role as cultural liaisons, considering themselves “cultural ambassadors.” For some of their restaurant clients the taste of tangy injera and richly aromatic chicken doro wat, the national dish of Ethiopia, might be the first. Alifom and Wossen wanted that experience to highlight the distinct spices, ingredients and flavor combinations of Ethiopian cuisine.
topic: label: Subject
content: Food Culture
label: Subject
content: Ethnicity
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ethnic
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Sileshi Alifom and Elizabeth Wossen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2018.0208.04
label: accession number
content: 2018.0208
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0208.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: platter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: melamine (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 17 13/32 in x 17 13/32 in; 6.35 cm x 44.196 cm x 44.196 cm