By Ann Craig-Cinnamon
It may be just a short drive down Fall Creek Road to a strip mall near Brooks School
Road, but a visit to the restaurant St. Yared is like a trip to the other side of the world.
The owners, Haile and Etenesh Abebe, are from Ethiopia and opened St. Yared, in September of 2013, to fulfill a dream Etenesh has had to share Ethiopian cuisine with the Fishers community.
The journey to Fishers was not an easy one. Haile first learned of America in the third grade from a Peace Corps worker in his city. “It just triggered in me a passion to travel. Here I see an American coming from this most affluent country coming to Africa, to Ethiopia, to give. It just triggered this passion to go see that land and do the same thing and make a difference,” he said.
His dream came true when an American couple brought him to America after he finished eighth grade. Haile, a microbiologist, had all his education paid for by his foster parents. He said they may have also saved his life because war broke out in Ethiopia shortly after he left and many of his friends and a brother were killed.
He was not able to return to Ethiopia for 17 years. But when he did, he was literally thunderstruck by a young woman he saw on the street. Haile said when he first saw Etenesh he said “that is my wife,” He went to the great lengths demanded by tradition in his culture to win her hand. The couple wed after just two weeks, never even speaking to each other before the wedding.
Etenesh said it was not an arranged marriage and she had final say but was hesitant about going to America. “I thought that’s too far to go, but love makes you do crazy stuff,” she said.
Haile calls Etenesh a very strong person having suffered through the war, separation from her family and then coming to America where she knew no one. Twenty-two years later the couple, who have four children say they have never had a fight.
St. Yared is her dream.
“I love to cook and it’s a service to the community,” said Etenesh, who added that the restaurant is adding a little spice to the Fishers area.
“For us it’s sharing our heritage with fellow Americans. We really have little Ethiopia here,” Haile said.
St. Yared is open every day except Monday. For more information, visit
Styaredcuisine.com.
