Chef Eskender Aseged started Radio Africa Kitchen as a pop-up in 2004 and opened his brick-and-mortar 15 years ago in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. Eskender came to the US from Ethiopia and initially started a career as an engineer before pursuing his passion for cooking. He worked with highly-acclaimed chefs like Jeremiah Tower and Joyce Goldstein in San Francisco before starting Radio Africa Kitchen. In an interview early in his career, the chef said the best advice he ever received was to find something that makes you happy and put your all into it — for him, that was cooking.
His inspiration to start the business came from his desire to connect the chain from farm to table. “I didn’t see a connection between the chefs, farmers, and customers,” says Eskender. His unique menu combining influences from Northern-Easter Africa with a touch of California makes for a Modern African menu that earned him a dedicated following that even caught the attention of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Specifically, his seared tuna topped with chermoula and served on a bed of sauteed vegetables was praised by the TV host as a dish that he wished would never end.
Eskender’s favorite dishes on the menu include his chicken jambalaya with saffron rice; saffron prawns with couscous pilaf harissa and vegetables; and green lentils saffron rice. The beef meatballs are served with quinoa- and berbere-infused vegetables. All of his dishes are as elegantly plated as you would find in a fine dining restaurant, but in a casual environment.
At the start of his career, he saw a lot of restaurants weren’t using local produce — he set out to change that. “The food has become more Farmers Market-oriented. We’re a believer in getting fresh produce from the market,” says Eskender. Covid also changed the dining landscape. “Because of the pandemic, we did a lot of research in terms of how to prepare food that’s not eaten in a restaurant,” says Eskender. Since a lot of food was ordered for pick-up, Eskender had to figure out a way to maintain textures, flavors, and colors outside of the restaurant.
His advice to chefs stepping into the pop-up or restaurant game is to spend a lot of time in the kitchen perfecting ingredients, techniques, and recipes. “Connect with people,” says Eskender, “Be humble. Listen to other people.”
The name Radio Africa Kitchen comes from Eskender’s experience growing up in Ethiopia where neighbors gathered around the town radio for meals and conversation. Now, Eskender wants to reconnect to his restaurant’s namesake by expanding the space into a community center where people can come in to learn and connect with one another. They’ve started by offering a cooking class every Tuesday. They’re also hoping to start serving food platters, as opposed to individual plates, to increase the sense of community through shared conversations and meals.
