Chicago Chefs Cook for Tigray: Tigist Reda Looks Homeward to Help
Chicago Chefs Cook for Tigray: Tigist Reda Looks Homeward to Help
Owner of Demera Restaurant Sparked Fundraiser for Humanitarian Aid to War-Torn Province
Tigray Fundraiser: Looking Homeward to Help
There is an amazing lineup of chefs who will be dishing up delicious food at Chicago Chefs Cook for Tigray, the fundraiser that will be held one week from today (Wednesday, September 21) at Chicago’s National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.
All of them are eager to help raise critically needed funds to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn province of northern Ethiopia. Most of them were involved in the hugely successful Chicago Chefs Cook for Ukraine fundraiser on March 16.
But for Chef Tigist Reda — who rallied her peers around her idea for the fundraiser — the cause is intensely personal.
Tigist, who owns Demera Ethiopian Restaurant in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, is a native of Tigray (pronounced ti-GRYE). Since November 2020, the military of Ethiopia’s central government has been engaged in a conflict with Tigray’s local armed force. The central government’s efforts to isolate Tigray have cut off travel, aid and even communications to its residents.
Tigist says she has no way to inquire about the welfare of her mother, other family members or friends. “There's no getting in and getting out,” she said during an interview at Demera on Tuesday (September 13).
All proceeds from the event will go to HPN4Tigray, which stands for Health Professionals Network for Tigray. The organization provides health care needed urgently by those displaced in the warfare. Given the lack of access to Tigray, HPN provides services mainly to camps in Sudan where more than 60,000 people have taken refuge.
The following is an excerpted Q&A with Tigist, who arrived in Chicago about a quarter century ago and later started Demera, which serves dishes based on her own family’s recipes. This is followed by the list of chefs participating in the event next Wednesday.
Click the button below to buy tickets, which are priced at $150. The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture is located at 3015 W. Division St. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Q: Tell us what Tigray was like before the current troubles.
A: Unfortunately, we had another civil war when I was six, seven years old, it was 17 years long. I lived in the capital city, so when it reached our city, we got displaced and had to travel three weeks on foot. But after the war, things got settled… It's not like everything was perfect. But health care was growing… [Previously] if you wanted to go to college and university, you had to go to the capital [Addis Ababa]. Now in Tigray alone, there are six universities... And when I went back and forth, what I saw was people that didn't have anything when we were kids, at least had their own home or small shop…
[Note: A Tigray-based political party that had ruled Ethiopia for 27 years was defeated in a 2018 election and in 2019 declined to join a coalition government headed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.}
Q: What sparked the current humanitarian crisis?
A: There was a strong word exchange. We were hoping it was not going to flare to full-fledged war, but it did go to that level… Everything is terrible, but the closing of the humanitarian corridor [which existed briefly earlier this year] is what is particularly terrible, because the people cannot use their bank, they can’t use their own money. People aren’t getting paid salary nor humanitarian aid. We had a little bit of a truce, now it's closed. You can’t get aid and there is no medication. So it's a dire situation for people…
Q: Has this sparked a refugee situation as well? Because I understand that your programs operate over into Sudan.
A: Yes, there are 60,000 refugees in Sudan. Internally, over a million people are displaced.
Q: So let's talk about your personal journey. How did Demera come about?
A: I used to entertain a lot of people at home. We’d have 40 people for any given holiday, it could be Christmas or anything. So this location [Demera is located in the Uptown neighborhood at the northeast corner of Broadway and Lawrence] was closed for two years and my former husband is like, “Why don't we open a restaurant?” And then six months later, we were opened… I got to do what I love to do. And also I was aware of creating a career for myself in the food industry.
Q: You've probably given so many people their first Ethiopian experience.
A: Yes, almost 50 percent of the dining room is first-timer still and it's going be 15 years pretty soon… They love it. It's like an experience. It's also you're eating on one plate [Ethiopian food is scooped up with injera, a flatbread]. We say if you need a fork, we'll bring a fork, but no one has asked so far.
Q: Now back to our present time. How was HPN4Tigray created?
A: HPN4Tigray was founded by Dr. Rishan Tesfay and other professionals in the wake of the war in Tigray. She is a newly graduated emergency medicine physician who was in her final year of residency training when HPN4TIGRAY was founded to advocate for the unmet humanitarian needs in Tigray and Sudan. War past and present has greatly impacted and shaped the lives of all HPN4Tigray's founding members. They are united in their belief that health care is a fundamental human right, and vow to support the victims of violence, illness and despair.
Q: So you have access to the refugee camps in Sudan. Is HPN able to function at all within Tigray itself?
A: Yes. We have a sister organization named Maedot. They do the school program and things like that, and then we find a way to fund them through a third party… HPN itself cannot go in. When it was open for a little bit, we were able to send medicine, but when that closed, we had to work through a third party… There's no getting in and getting out.
Q: I had the honor of covering Chicago Chefs Cook for Ukraine. How was it getting the band back together for your event?
A: I think that has been the easiest. All I had to do was ask. The chefs were on it right away. Selling tickets has been a lot more harder because people don't know what's going on…
Q: That educational element struck me immediately. Back in March, there was nothing more high-profile than Ukraine, and it resonated with so much of our last century of history in the United States, the conflicts with Russia and the European wars. Even a lot of people reading my newsletter, when they see this event for Tigray, the first thing they have to do is go to the internet.
A: That's where the challenge is right now, educating people that this is also happening. When we did Ukraine, I’d say, by the way, guys, this is also happening here, and it's really horrible from a humanitarian standpoint. The chefs said yes, but I think the public still not aware of what's happening…
Q: The participation of the other chefs is wonderful, and it just really gets to the heart of how this community works and how collaborative it is. But this is very personal for you.
A: You wake up, you don't know what's happening to them. It's your neighbors, your friends, it's your parents, everyone is there. So it's been really, really tough. But I think what's getting me focused is doing those things, just keep the focus at what people need. Because if I don't, I don't think I can function.
Event Details and Chef Lineup
DATE: Wednesday, September 21
TIME: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
VENUE: National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, 3015 W. Division St., Chicago (Humboldt Park neighborhood)
ORGANIZERS: Four of the Tigray event organizers — Chefs Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno in Chicago and Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, and Good Food advocates Eda Davidman and Darren Gest — were lead organizers of the Chicago Chefs Cook for Ukraine event in March. They are joined for this event by Jodi Fyfe of The Paramount Group and Tigist Reda of Demera Restaurant in Chicago (the event’s host).
PARTICIPATING CHEFS
• Louis Alexakis and Nikolas Kapernaros, Avli
• Mary Aregoni, Saigon Sisters
• Dana Cree, Pretty Cool Ice Cream
• Joseph Flamm, Rose Mary
• Andrew Holloday and Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe
• Dozzy Ibekwe, Dozzy’s Grill
• Brian Jupiter, Ina Mae
• Paul Kahan and Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread
• Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Wherewithall
• Bill Kim, Urban Belly
• Matthias Merges, Folkart Restaurant Management
• Martial Noguier, Bistronomic
• Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno
• Devon Quinn, Eden
• Sam Rattanopas, NaKorn
• Tigist Reda, Demera
• Darnell Reed, Louella’s Southern Kitchen
• Cliff Rome, Rome’s Joy Catering
• Noah Sandoval, Pizza Friendly Pizza/16 on Center
• Art Smith, Reunion
• Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris, Prairie Grass Cafe
• Zack Steen, Frontera Grill
• Giuseppe Tentori, GT Prime
• Jenner Tomaska, Esmé
• Erick Williams, Virtue/Daisy’s Po’Boy and Tavern