Muzita Abyssinian Bistro

11/07/2026

10/27/2026

MUZITA NOTES

“This RESTAURANT needs to be SHUT DOWN. This is DISGUSTING!”

Yep, that’s how it all started.

About 18 years ago, when we first opened Muzita, I was standing outside inviting people to come in.

A lady comes up to me, visibly upset, almost shaking.

“This is disgusting! How can you serve this kind of food? This restaurant needs to be shut down!”

What?

Now my blood is boiling. My blood pressure too… actually, no. I was much younger then. No blood pressure issues. But something was definitely rising. I just didn’t know what.

Did I make a mistake opening this restaurant? What did I get myself into? At least my heart was kind enough to use some pretty explicit words to calm me down. Obviously, I can’t repeat them here. My mom might read this.

Anyway, I’m trying to keep my cool.

“Ma’am, we serve traditional Abyssinian food…”

“I don’t care! You cannot serve this kind of food in this country!”

The more I tried to explain, the more upset she got, and the more frustrated I got. I’m trying to find the right words to calm both of us down.

Finally, I ask her, “Ma’am, what exactly is the problem?”

“How dare you serve a CAT? That’s disgusting!”

What?

A cat?

Did she just say a cat?

Now, I know my menu. Well, at least I thought I did. Back then, I was still learning which dishes were vegan and which were vegetarian. After all, I grew up eating this food, but my mom was the one doing the cooking.

But cats? For God’s sake, we don’t serve cats!

“Excuse me?”

“You’re serving cats!”

“Ma’am, we do NOT serve cats.”

“Yes, you do! You even put it in your name!”

She points to our sign.

MUZITA ABYSSINIAN BISTRO.

That was the day I learned there was a breed of cat called Abyssinian.

And the sign? Too late. We already paid for it. We’re not taking it down now.

So, for the record, 18 years later…

We do not serve cats!

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10/26/2026

“We would love to hear her name a hundred times a day.”

That was my parents’ blessing when I asked them to name our restaurant after my sister, Muzit. We called her Muzita.

Her story began long before we opened our doors in 2008.

In our family, Muzita was known as the magnet. She loved cooking, entertaining, traveling, and talking to people. Speaking eight languages certainly didn’t hurt.

For most people, New Year’s Eve is about new beginnings. For our family, December 31, 1997, was the day we wished time could stop. Muzit suffered an aneurysm while visiting San Diego from Washington. She became quadriplegic and lost her ability to speak. She never returned to Washington.

After she became ill, a man experiencing homelessness in Portland contacted us to tell us how kindly she had treated him. That captures her spirit.

She lived with our parents, and we all had the privilege of caring for her around the clock. Despite everything, my parents’ home was always full of joyful people. Friends came from all over the world to visit and stay with her. And of course, there was food, conversation, and laughter.

We learned from our parents that ache and laughter can exist at the same time.

Years later, I didn’t want to open a restaurant just for the sake of opening one. If my sister’s name was the first thing people saw when they walked in, I wanted it to reflect her spirit: lively, sometimes loud, a happy place where people could gather and enjoy themselves.

But my mother took it one step further. If a restaurant was going to carry her daughter’s name, the food had better live up to that name! So she came out of retirement as an accountant and went into the kitchen, as Mom, as we all call her.

Eighteen years later, not much has changed. She still shows up unannounced to taste the food and make sure we’re honoring her daughter, our sister. Now you know why we say Muzita is Mama driven, not chef driven.

Sadly, my sister passed away on April 12, 2021. By then, our family already knew the restaurant had lived up to her memory. Her name had been spoken here thousands and thousands of times.

Today we turn 18. And we’re still saying it.

A hundred times a day.

10/25/2026

HELP! I got BEAT UP by a Waymo!

Beautiful Sunday morning, peacefully driving to my restaurant, minding my own business.

Then a Waymo stops in front of me at what looks like a 45-degree angle!

I’m thinking, is this thing broken? Let me take a picture! This will be fun to show my kids. Dad’s got cool pictures!

But no… people are getting out. Boring!

So I decide to go left. And what do you know? Waymo takes off and passes me!

Now I’m the one stuck awkwardly in oncoming traffic, looking like an idiot!

From cool dad to uncool dad!

And the embarrassing part? I drive an electric car too! I thought we were family. No respect!

But it got me thinking.

Waymo provided the SERVICE. It got its passengers where they wanted to go. But HOSPITALITY would have considered everyone around it, too.

Anyway… Happy Sunday!

It’s okay to get beat by a Waymo, but please don’t get beat up by one!

10/23/2026

More than half a million views later… look who showed up!

The real OfferUp found the story of how my son used OfferUp to get me out of bed to watch the sunrise with him.

Who knew? Sometimes you have to make up a sale to get something money can’t buy.

10/21/2026

When NOTHING is SOMETHING

“You built this restaurant all by yourself from nothing.”

Someone told me that recently, as Muzita turns 18 this month. I have to admit, it felt good to hear.

It’s true. I did start with very little. I didn’t have a trust fund or money from my parents to open the restaurant. But the other truth is, I didn’t build it by myself either.

When I think back to those early days, two things still come to mind.

Before we opened, the owner of Ono Sushi took the time to go over my blueprints with me. Jonathan Waller, the general manager of Parallel 33, invited me into their kitchen to observe how a kitchen operates.

Neither of them owed me anything. They just wanted to help. I’m grateful they did.

After 18 years, sometimes I wonder how many people helped me build Muzita without any of us realizing it.

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10/13/2026

Service vs. Hospitality.