U. grill cook leads double life of food

One of the first things kids learn is how to properly use a knife and fork. This custom can, however, be avoided by eating in the restaurant owned by a familiar Penn employee, Class of 1920 Dining Commons grill cook Amare Solomon. At Dahlak, Solomon's Ethiopian-Eritrean restaurant at 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue, the use of silverware is forbidden. Instead, it's a free-for-all as customers eat from a single plate of meats and vegetables with their hands. During the course of a meal, Solomon and his wife Neghisti -- the restaurant's chef -- encourage customers to feed one another, insisting that doing so makes the meal more enjoyable. Aside from its liberating quality, Solomon explained that eating with one's hands stresses communal values and is part of the Ethiopian-Eritrean tradition. "It's a form of trust and friendship," he said. "When people are able to eat with their hands it shows they are close with one another." This trust is representative of the values which shape Solomon's life and personality. Having originally immigrated to America in 1981, Solomon was without friends and family when he first arrived. He was confident, however, that his friendliness would lead to a great future for him in America. "In Ethiopian society, friendship and respect are very important," Solomon said. "The way I grew up was to treat everyone with respect, and so I do." Solomon's "golden rule" of friendship paid off. Now, after 17 years and three jobs, he has a wife, three children, a restaurant recently ranked "excellent" by the Zagat Survey and more friends than he ever hoped for. Solomon's popularity is not limited to his restaurant. His presence on Penn's campus is a delight for many students. In fact, the majority of Dahlak's clientele comes from Penn and Swarthmore College students who have either tasted Solomon's cheesesteaks or heard about his wife's cooking through word-of-mouth. And just as Penn students enjoy chatting with Solomon on line at Commons, Solomon enjoys their company. He said looks forward to working at Commons every day because of the students. "When I am making cheesesteaks on the grill, students always come up to me and shake my hands and give me hugs," he said. "They are great kids." And 1974 College alumnus Gihon Jodon, who eats at Dahlak "all the time," recalled first meeting Solomon during his days at Penn. "We used to sit on our porches with milk containers filled with Tedge [raisin-honey wine] and have a great time," said Jodon, who lives and works in Philadelphia. Solomon continues to work at Penn despite the relative success of his restaurant because of the communication and managerial skills he acquires while working for Penn's Dining Services. "I use the things I learn in my own restaurant," he explained. In addition to his job in Dining and owning a restaurant, Solomon works with his wife to increase business and safety in his neighborhood. Recent actions he has taken to achieve this goal include expanding his restaurant to make use of an abandoned lot once used by drug dealers and creating a business out of an abandoned property to make it safer for his neighbors to walk at night. His new hair-braiding shop, Dahlak Braiding, exists purely for the neighborhood's improvement, as it does not make any profits. "We only get one or two customers per week. It's just enough to pay the bills," Neghisti Solomon said. Amare Solomon added that he "used to have to walk my neighbors home because they were afraid of getting jumped, but now because of Dahlak Braiding there are lights which keep [delinquent] people away and make people feel safe" on Baltimore Avenue. In addition to the restaurant, Penn students can also enjoy Solomon's humor and cheesesteaks weekly at the Commons grill.