RISTRAS HANG FROM the portal welcoming guests to Clay Pot Ethiopian Cuisine, in Albuquerque. Inside the long adobe building, the brick floors, wooden beams, and corner fireplace feel familiar, even if the floor seating and massive shared plates of red chili lamb, spicy kale, cabbage, beef, and lentils are not. And yet, Ethiopian cuisine shares an essential ingredient with New Mexico’s favorite dishes, says owner Seble Yemenu.
“I didn’t know that New Mexico has a lot of chile varieties,” says Yemenu, who moved to Albuquerque in 2018 and visited specialty shops to make her own spice blends. “They have so many different chiles.” In fact, New Mexico’s chiles are similar to what is available back in her home country. “It’s a blessing,” Yemenu says.
As the oldest of five siblings, Yemenu learned to cook by watching the women in her family. After coming to the U.S., she worked various roles in restaurant kitchens before launching her own catering operation. In January 2025, Yemenu expanded with a bright purple food truck that popped up throughout the region with a daily rotation of Ethiopian dishes.
Even before the food truck, though, Yemenu had wanted to own a sit-down restaurant. So when she stumbled upon the former Fireside restaurant location on Paradise Boulevard, Yemenu knew it would be home. “I was like, ‘Oh, am I going to convert this place into a full-time restaurant,’ ” she recalls.
