Meet Mr. Fekere of Rosalind’s, LA’s first Ethiopian restaurant

Shaka Mali Tafari, Mr. Fekere, and Meklit Gebre-Mariam break bread in front of Rosalind’s in Little Ethiopia.
Photo by Seth Van Matre.

In an excerpt from his KCRW series “Exploring Africa in LA: A Little Ethiopia Story,” independent producer Shaka Mali Tafari visits with Mr. Fekere, owner of Rosalind’s, who brought the first Ethiopian restaurant to Fairfax Ave. Fekere encouraged other African businesses to set up shop on the street, and was dubbed “the Godfather of Little Ethiopia.” Along with Berhanu Asfaw and his brother Getahan, owners of Messob, Mr. Fekere gathered other entrepreneurs in 2000 to meet at Rosalind’s to discuss the future of Ethiopians in Los Angeles. Two years later, Little Ethiopia became the first neighborhood in the world to be named after an African nation.