Awash Miami | Our Story
Named for a river, rooted in family
Awash opened in Miami Gardens in 2017, named after Ethiopia's historic Awash River. Founders Fouad and Eka Wassel built it around one conviction: sharing Ethiopian food, culture, and hospitality with South Florida.
How Awash came to be
Eka's lifelong passion for traditional cooking gave Fouad's vision its heart — a family-owned restaurant where every dish reflects a choice to do things the way they have always been done.
Recipes that traveled here
Dishes like berbere-spiced Doro Wot, Misir Wot, and Shiro are prepared using recipes and spices passed down through generations. Everything arrives on injera — the sourdough flatbread that is as much utensil as it is part of the meal.
A space shaped by heritage
The dining room draws from the Gojo Bait — the thatched gathering place central to Ethiopian community life — with art, music, and cultural details throughout. It was built to honor a place, not just evoke one.
The Jebena and the ceremony
Ethiopian coffee at Awash is prepared in a Jebena — the traditional clay pot — and served with incense, following a ceremony that has marked hospitality in Ethiopia for centuries.
A family welcome, every visit
On any given evening, you may find Fouad, Eka, or another family member at Awash — greeting guests and making sure the meal is right. That presence is not incidental; it is the whole point.