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BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!

BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!


BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!

It used to be the hangout for the ultra-hip of Addis. The place to see and be seen. Afework Tekele described it as “a small international café with all the trimmings that you find in such similar places, be it in Hong Kong, Paris or New York…You meet all kinds of people from all spectrum[s] of life. I think it is a kind of melting pot.” It was the centre of city life and “the hipster place of Addis Abeba in the 1970s and 80s.” Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!  A casualty of development, it was bulldozed yesterday to make way for the La Gare Eagle Hills development.

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In-Picture

IRON JUNGLE

Somewhere between “Monday morning motivation” and “this job definitely didn't come with a user manual,” a lone artisan of steel crouches in the middle of what looks like a metal jungle gym designed by a very ambitious architect. Armed with a welding mask, gloves, and the kind of focus that says “I have seen things you wouldn't believe,” he wrestles with a stubborn piece of machinery that looks like it lost an argument with gravity years ago and never recovered. Around him: a fores...


In-Picture

STREET SPARKS

At Gabon Street near Meskel Flower Roundabout, a multi-deck car carrier stacked with brightly modified rally vehicles moves through the capital's grey afternoon, drawing attention without trying too hard. The convoy feels out of place in the daily rhythm of traffic, yet it signals something bigger taking shape beneath the surface. These purpose-built machines point to a growing motorsport and automotive subculture finding space in the city's evolving leisure economy. As Addis Ababa continues...


In-Picture

SMILE CRAFT

In the heart of 4 Kilo, tradition is still very much in business. The city's most underrated essential accessory is on full display: the humble Miswak also known as mefaqiya in Amharic. No toothpaste needed, just grab it and go like past generations. It's a reminder that success doesn't always arrive in grand announcements, it gets built, stubbornly and patiently, one small branch at a time. Even ambition here has a manual setting. Keep your focus sharp, your intentions cleaner than freshly p...