Tutu Melaku, the founder and owner of Tutu's Ethiopian Table, was born and grew up in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. She was one of a large and happy family, living outside the city in a pleasant house where cooking was a real family enthusiasm. Tutu and her sisters spent many hours learning the basic skills from their ever-energetic mother and family meals were the real focus of the day when everyone would sit round the large table and share the delicious and varied foods that were on offer.
Tutu brought her cooking skills with her when she moved to Reading in 1992 and she soon had her own children here to appreciate and enjoy her talents. Her son and her daughter both enjoy the subtle flavours that Tutu brings to her cooking.
Tutu's Ethiopian Table won the Restaurant of the Year award in the Pride of Reading awards in 2008. The title was judged by celebrity chefs Daniel Galmiche and Antony Worrall Thompson, with Chris Tarrant presenting the awards.
In 2009 Tutu also received the Innovative Business Award in London from the Habesha Business Association, an organisation that recognises excellence in Ethiopian businesses in the UK. The award was inscribed "In recognition of your many outstanding achievements and contributions to the community throughout the year."
Tutu has been very clever in adapting to British tastes while staying close to the genuine flavours of Ethiopian food. No one need fear that she will overuse the herbs and spices that are so typical of good Ethiopian food - she uses them with real care and a fine instinct for subtlety of flavour. The result, as all will know who have already tasted her food, is stimulating, delicious and certainly varied.