Kansas City Ethiopian food lovers are in for a treat: Blue Nile will reopen in early March in Cascone's former space in the City Market, according to today's Kansas City Star.
Blue Nile opened on the southern border of the Crossroads District before that area took off, and then moved to the 39th Street restaurant district as that neighborhood was really hitting its stride. They closed three years ago, and the completely unverified rumor I heard was that they were making so little money that they opened a franchise convenience store somewhere.
There are at least two other Ethiopian restaurants in the KC area; I've only been to Adis Ababa near Blue Nile's old location. We had dinner there again with friends two weeks ago; it's good, but as we walked home after our meal we talked about how we wished Blue Nile were still open. There are few restaurants that over the years become a part of your home and community; Blue Nile was one of them. The food was fabulous, and it was always more like visiting a family you knew for dinner than a commercial transaction.
To Daniel and Selamawit Fikru: Welcome back! We've missed you!
Interesting aside: While looking for a picture to go with this article, I learned that there are Blue Nile restaurants in Seattle (with beautiful pics of the falls on the Nile in Ethiopia, and breakfast!), Portland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and that the Blue Nile restaurant in Asmara, Eritrea on the border of Ethiopia is a Pizzeria.
