Woinee Mariam’s hospitality is warmer than a spoonful of berbere spice. With her two locations (there’s another one in Pflugerville), Mariam has not only created a platform to showcase traditional dishes of her native Ethiopia but also formed something of a de facto community center for Ethiopian expats and the culinarily curious alike. Berbere spice spreads its burnt orange sunset over minced beef fried with ginger, onion and cardamom on a dish of minchet abish, and it permeates the chicken in doro wot, the national dish of Ethiopia. Peruse the vegetarian buffet with its beans, peas, collard greens and lentils and you will begin to see the direct lineage between African food and the cuisine of the American South. But they don’t have honey wine and Ethiopian coffee in the American South like they do here.