{"id":8073,"date":"2013-08-14T04:16:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T04:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/offmetro.com\/sf\/?p=8073"},"modified":"2013-08-14T04:24:50","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T04:24:50","slug":"good-neighbors-eskender-asegeds-radio-africa-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ca\/8073\/good-neighbors-eskender-asegeds-radio-africa-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Neighbors: Eskender Aseged’s Radio Africa & Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eskender Aseged came to America when he was nineteen, knowing hardly any English after fleeing Ethiopia as a refugee. Known as the \u201cNomadic Chef,\u201d Eskender is now the founder and chef of the San Francisco up-and-coming hangout Radio Africa & Kitchen<\/a>. The name Radio Africa & Kitchen comes from Eskender\u2019s experience growing up in Ethiopia where neighbors gathered around the town radio for meals and conversation. The nomadic chef talks about being the rebellious son, playing DJ, and where he goes to get out of the kitchen. <\/p>\n

Eskender, you started out as an engineer, how\u2019d you become a chef?<\/strong>
\nMy brother and I were both engineers. But I\u2019ve always loved people and food. I started Radio Africa & Kitchen out of my garage. At first I was inviting fifteen to twenty friends, and then pretty soon I realized keeping it in my kitchen wasn\u2019t sustainable. People talked about it so much that even the San Francisco mayor\u2019s office contacted me about [Radio Africa & Kitchen]. So we started selling at Velo Rouge Cafe two days a week and gradually added more days. Then, in 2012, we opened Radio Africa & Kitchen in Bayview. <\/p>\n

So how did your parents respond when their engineer son said he wanted to start a restaurant? <\/strong>
\nAt first, not very well at all. Because, it\u2019s not culturally normal. But once they saw that it was successful, they started to come around and say, “Okay, yeah, maybe this can work.” <\/p>\n

So, are you the younger brother? <\/strong>
\nAh, well, I\u2019m actually the older brother. But my brother, he likes to think he\u2019s the older one. You know, because he\u2019s much more conservative, traditional, he has a house – whereas I\u2019m more bohemian. I just want to see as many places and meet as many people as I can. <\/p>\n

There are many people who have dreams but have a hard time taking the leap. What keeps you motivated? <\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a labor of love in the beginning. People get discouraged, people get exhausted. I think I had a good stamina. And it was perfect timing. People wanted something different and Radio Africa & Kitchen was totally new. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best piece of advice someone gave you when Radio Africa & Kitchen was starting out? <\/strong>
\nLet\u2019s see, probably the best advice is to find that one thing that makes you really happy and put all your passion into it. If you have too many interests, you\u2019ll just get distracted. I have a lot of interests \u2013 science, music, nature \u2013 but cooking is the thing that makes me really, really happy. You have to find that one thing and go for it. <\/p>\n

Why did you start Radio Africa & Kitchen in Bayiew?<\/strong>
\nI live in the Mission District, which you know, is the fancy area. There are already a lot of restaurants and cafes over there. We\u2019re about empowering people and we wanted to do something new. People from this neighborhood work at the restaurant, and we try to offer good food at reasonable prices. We also work with the farmers and fishmongers in the area to use what they have, what\u2019s in season. I get bored of making the same things so we change up the menu every week. It\u2019s the equivalent of having a DJ instead of an iPod. <\/p>\n

Do you have any favorite places to getaway in California?<\/strong>
\nI love Santa Cruz, all the restaurants. Sonoma is great. I love being in the country with all the farms and wineries. I love learning about new foods and really enjoy Mazzocco Winery<\/a>; it’s a beautiful place to get away.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eskender Aseged came to America when he was nineteen, knowing hardly any English after fleeing Ethiopia as a refugee. Known as the \u201cNomadic Chef,\u201d Eskender is now the founder and chef of the San Francisco up-and-coming hangout Radio Africa & Kitchen. The name Radio Africa & Kitchen comes from Eskender\u2019s experience growing up in Ethiopia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":8458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews","8":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nGood Neighbors: Eskender Aseged's Radio Africa & Kitchen - offMetro CA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ca\/8073\/good-neighbors-eskender-asegeds-radio-africa-kitchen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good Neighbors: Eskender Aseged's Radio Africa & Kitchen - offMetro CA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eskender Aseged came to America when he was nineteen, knowing hardly any English after fleeing Ethiopia as a refugee. 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