Dayton is rich with immigrant communities that bring unique cuisine and culture to the midwestern city.
That's where Ethnosh comes in.
The initiative is committed to getting locals “in the know” and out to eat at some of these unique, immigrant-owned restaurants. It has been operating in the Gem City since October 2019 and has grown in popularity since its start.
Ethnosh was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 2015 by Donovan McKnight and his Colombian-born wife, Alex. While McKnight no longer operates Ethnosh out of Greensboro, he helped kick off the Dayton branch to expand his brainchild into other cities.
"I think that in some ways, food can be a lovely tool in so many capacities for expanding community.”
Dayton’s Ethnosh is now part of The Collaboratory, directed by Peter Benkendorf. The Dayton Collaboratory provides infrastructure for people and organizations to work together to "develop community initiatives that generate new economic, civic and creative opportunities and value."
Benkendorf said the project’s success in Dayton has a lot to do with both the richness of immigrant communities in the region and the explorative nature of Dayton’s residents.
“That mix of cuisine, culture, and community, I think, is what makes the Ethnosh experience so powerful and rewarding for people," he said. "It's why people wanna come back because everyone is different for all three of those reasons.”
Build community through food
Previous diners, or Noshers, have often returned for more, including Karen Korn, a Dayton resident who has attended close to 10 Ethnosh events.
“I was born and raised in the New York, New Jersey area and I've lived in a number of different cities," she said. "I've never had a dining experience like that, so that was unique."
In addition to being a regular Nosher, Korn teaches anthropology at Sinclair Community College and other schools or universities. With her background in cultural diversity and ethnic identity, she said she sees Ethnosh as a way to bridge the gap between different cultures.
“Cuisine is one of the best ways to bridge that chasm that exists sometimes between people when they don't share common backgrounds," Korn said. "So I think that in some ways, food can be a lovely tool in so many capacities for expanding community.”
Restaurants in the project are curated by Michael Groomes, who chooses the spots based on if they immigrant-owned and if they are willing to share their own stories.
“When I meet with them, I want to know that there's a story that we'll be able to get," he said. "Because, as we like to say at Ethnosh, the three c's – community, cuisine and culture, right?”
Previous locations have included Cedarland, Yaffa Grill, Taste of Jamaica, Sonora Grill, Salar, Olive, La Monarca, La Costeñita, Kabuki, El Gaban, Hua Mei, Nanyea, Istanbul Grill and Prem’s Chennai Delight.
Groomes sits down with each restaurant to find out what their journey was like to the U.S. and why they chose to be in the restaurant industry.
“Everybody has their own reason for coming, so needless to say, I encourage them to be open about their experience with coming here, talking about the food and how their culture informs the food that they make, as well as why they decided to open a restaurant and so forth," he said.
Co-owner of Prem’s, Lavanya Premkumar, has hosted two Ethnosh events. She immigrated from Chennai and started the restaurant with her husband and head chef, Premkumar Nagarathinam.
Prem's Chennai Delight's Southern Indian cuisine has drawn return visits since each event and she said the project has brought new audiences to enjoy her food.
“It's very nice, very diversified, all sort of crowd. We get to meet them in one place," she said. "And it was quite interactive, we get talk to them a lot.”
During her Ethnosh events, she said she wanted to serve visitors more traditional food to give them a true introduction to the cuisine from back home in Chennai.
"So we serve dosas, rasam — it's kind of soup — and then chicken dishes," she said. "Then some fusion food; Indian and Chinese fusion, but it's a street style food, very healthier version though.”
Noshers like Korn said trying new, traditional dishes are exactly what draws them to future Ethnosh events in Dayton. The family dining style invites them to look beyond the food-focused aspect of a meal and connect with other Noshers.
"I feel that for the price, you got a lot of different foods and always ample quantity," she said. "I never have left an event feeling like I didn't have enough to eat by any means. I usually could take food home.”
The most recent Ethnosh event took place April 21 at La Embajada on Springboro Pike, which is owned and operated by Monica and Jorge Fabregat.
Groomes said the Argentinian food at La Embajada focuses heavily on meat and lets heat take a back seat in its meals.
“They don't like spiciness. Most people think, 'Oh, Latin food. It's gotta be spicy.' No, that's only a Mexico. Mexico is where the spice is at," he said.
Noshers enjoyed an apricot spiced odyssey as an appetizer followed by spiced pomodoro rice with beef or portobello mushrooms stuffed with creamed spinach over fennel couscous and a new age postre vigilante for dessert.
“There is a group of people here in the area that are interested, they are more concerned about the gastronomic concept of eating, but they're also more interested in what is the culture about," Groomes said. "What is the opportunity to meet other people that are like myself, who are interested in experiencing other foods and cultures. So, Ethnosh is gonna keep going forward as long as you keep coming.”
Possibility of expansion
The next Ethnosh will take place at the Dayton Village Pizza Restaurant on North Dixie Drive. But noshers shouldn't be fooled by the name, it dishes out more than everyday pizza.
The event will be with restaurant host Gulnaz Makhmudova.
“Gulnaz has got background, family background, from Uzbekistan and Georgia, as well as Turkish influence in the menu," Benkendorf said. "They serve halal, all their meat is halal. And she said their business is about 50-50 pizza and the Mediterranean menu. Obviously, we'll be serving off the Mediterranean menu.”
According to Benkendorf, they hope to expand the Ethnosh model to other cities including Springfield which has a Haitian immigrant population.
He said after working with Mcknight to develop Ethnosh in Dayton, they have created their own ticketing and integration system that could be replicated elsewhere.
“It's very easy to take what we've got and sort of package it. So we're really looking for other cities that wanna bring an Ethnosh to their city," he said. "I mean we've been talking about going to Springfield or Middletown or trying to expand ...I think we've got now enough followers that would be willing to drive a while.”
