
MĂ©lange Foods, Inc. will house chef Elias Taddesseâs beefy burgers, berbere-spiced fried chicken, and Ethiopian taco eateries
D.C. restaurateur Elias Taddesse is leaning on his Michelin-starred credentials and classic French training to helm three fast casual eateries serving gourmet fast food â all under the same roof in Shawâs Atlantic Plumbing Development (2108 8th Street NW).
On Monday, May 12, Taddesse launches Mélange Foods, Inc., a 96-seat restaurant he describes as a culinary incubator celebrating his Ethiopian roots and personal story with bold flavors.
MĂ©lange Foods opens with two restaurants that are already popular with D.C. diners: Doro Soul Food, Taddesseâs riff on American soul food focused on fried chicken with Ethiopian flavors; and MĂ©lange DC, the chefâs burger joint that pays homage to his dual identity as an Ethiopian American. Taddesseâs third concept, Moya, will center on Ethiopian-influenced tacos and rolls out later this spring.
Taddesse originally opened Mélange DC in 2020 in Mount Vernon Triangle. Three years later, the burger bar moved to a tiny takeout-only space in Shaw with his new Doro Soul Food. He recently closed that location to move them both to Mélange Foods at the nightlife-filled intersection of U Street and Florida Avenue.
Taddesse, named Eater DCâs 2021 Chef of the Year, plans to develop all three restaurants under one roof until theyâre ready to strike out on their own â kind of like baby birds leaving the nest. âLetâs say we find a location that works best for Doro ⊠then Doroâs going to move into that space,â Taddesse explained.
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Moya is a throwback to Taddesseâs time as a Timberland-wearing, hip-hop music listening student in early-2000s France, where he attended culinary school at Institut Paul Bocuse, before going on to cook at several Michelin-starred restaurants in France and New York City, including the elite Caviar Russe, which earned its Michelin star during his one-year tenure as executive chef.
The international school, since renamed Institut Lyfe, attracted lots of students from Mexico. Taddesse befriended several of them, and they affectionately called him âgringo.â
âI was the âgringoâ just because I came from here and was the only one who spoke English,â says Taddesse. Now, the nickname has stuck.
Taddesse said heâs always enjoyed Mexican culture and making tacos. He found community with Mexican chefs and remembers cooking with them in their homes in France. In New York City, he spent a decade living in Manhattanâs Spanish Harlem neighborhood and Astoria in Queens, which is about a quarter Hispanic.
Fusing Ethiopian and Mexican flavors was a no-brainer for Taddesse because both cultures serve comfort foods that he can easily translate. âWhen you look at Mexican cuisine, you essentially have a vehicle which is the tacos, and then you have your stews, your beef steaks and all of that,â says Taddesse, comparing tacos to using injera in Ethiopian cuisine to take bites of beef tibs and stews, âwhich can really work very easily with the Mexican flavors.â
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From Mélange DC, expect the greatest hits from the 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef. The beloved dry-aged burgers include the Classic, Italian, and Double Decker. Taddesse will throw specials into the mix and add a new burger dubbed the Frenchie.
Heâs also tinkering with adding a berbere chocolate ice cream to the menu. Berbere is an Ethiopian spice mix that includes dried chiles, Ethiopian cardamom, fenugreek, and other aromatics. âPaprika chocolates are very popular,â says Taddesse. âBerbere is not necessarily that spicy â usually, itâs more aromatic and it depends on how you prepare it.â
As for Doro Soul Food, Taddesse will replace chicken wings with chicken tenders â which will simplify production, pickup, and preparation, he says.
Heâs branching out by adding a fried Atlantic cod sandwich to the menu, since so many soul food restaurants offer some sort of fried fish sandwich. Itâs also a nod to the Ethiopian tradition of eating fish during fasting periods. Taddesse will serve the Shiro Meda sandwich with shredded cabbage, a zesty Ethiopian tomato salad called timatim, and a gribiche sauce, which usually accompanies poached fish.
âGribiche is like a very classic French sauce essentially,â says Taddesse. âItâs made with shredded eggs, a lot of capers, parsley, tarragon, and lettuce and then citrus and vinegar. Think of it as like a tartar sauce.â
In MĂ©lange Foodsâ second phase, Taddesse is rolling out a bar program that includes a berbere margarita. The bar menu will include charred lamb meatballs marinated in a blend of herbs and yogurt. Taddesse calls the dish âThe Champâ because it won the DC Meatball Battle, a March charity event that involved seven other local chefs.
Taddesse opens Mélange Foods about a year after taking a self-imposed hiatus from creating new dishes to rest, get married, and have a baby son. He had not taken a break since before the pandemic.
âIf youâre well rested, youâre more calm, things become less chaotic,â he says. âAnd when I came back I was more methodical, I would say, in the steps I was taking and that led to this opportunity.â
During that break, the new D.C. location of F1 Arcade collaborated with Taddesse to serve âThe Nationalâ fried chicken sandwich, which he debuted at MĂ©lange to honor doro wat, a slow-cooked spicy Ethiopian chicken stew. The arcadeâs version of the sandwich featured crisp fried chicken with kibbeh aioli, turmeric slaw, and a fried egg between onion brioche buns.
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Looking ahead, Taddesse plans on opening his long-awaited Mélange by Chef Elias as an anchor of the Bridge District development near Anacostia. The high-end restaurant combining contemporary French cuisine with traditional Ethiopian flavors is slated to open at the end of this year. This restaurant will focus more on quality of product, sourcing premium ingredients, and presentation.
âIâm just trying to cook at every level,â says Taddesse. âThe same rigor, the same training, the same thought processes, the same sourcing culture comes in⊠everything that I try to do.â