Not many Scottish pensioners move to the Ethiopian highlands to build a restaurant that looks like a concrete spaceship. Susan Alitto did, opening Ben Abeba on a cliff outside Lalibela after leaving a small-town life in Scotland.
The National’s 2019 feature followed her unlikely second act: learning local supply chains, hiring nearby staff, and serving travelers who came for the rock-hewn churches and stayed for injera with a view. The building’s spiral decks made it a postcard, but the harder story was cross-cultural enterprise in a tourism town.
Lalibela’s visitor economy has always been fragile, tied to pilgrimage seasons, conflict, and air links. A foreign-owned landmark can mean jobs and skills transfer. It can also sit awkwardly beside heritage politics and who profits from holy ground.
As lifestyle reference for Horn readers, Ben Abeba is more than quirky architecture. It is a case study in how Ethiopia’s tourism dreams depend on peace, roads, and trust between outsiders and the communities that keep the churches standing.
Sources: The National
