The Best Things I Ate Last Week
Kitchen sink shawarma, Filipino baked goods, and the best dang galette in Detroit.
Heyo!
It’s me, your favorite food writer, Danny Palumbo, and I’m coming to you live from Deeeeeeeetroit.
Did you know that I’m from Pittsburgh and I don’t ever shut up about it? It’s true, and because of my Western Pennsylvania roots, I love to eat French fries on a salad. It’s called a Pittsburgh Salad (AKA a chicken or steak salad if you live in Pittsburgh) and it’s one of my favorite meals.
Problem is, most places outside of Pittsburgh don’t serve French fries on a salad. They believe it to be “utter madness” and “unconscionable.” However, I’m convinced that anybody who objects to fries on a salad just needs to loosen up. What kind of dork doesn’t like French fries? And who among us doesn’t wish our salad was beefed up with just a litttttttle more food? This starchy, leafy, light-yet-totally-filling meal nourishes the body and soul.
While you only see Pittsburgh salads on menus in Western Pennsylvania, fear not, loyal readers of The Move, because you can conjure this salad at any fine food establishment. See below:
The move this week? Go to a restaurant, order fries and a salad, then throw those damn fried tubers on top of your bowl of lettuce & veggies. If somebody tries to stop you, say, “Hey, guess what, pal? My father owns this city so why don’t you mind your fucking business?” And then threaten to sue. That’s my big rule for life: Sue, sue, and then sue some more just to be on the safe side of things.
Anyway, after a long week of suing, I like to to eat out, so this week I’ve been Motown-ing around trying all kinds of interesting things that I’d like to share with you!
But first! Please subscribe! Pay if you want; that really helps out. It’s a measly 5 bucks a month and you get dozens of back-logged articles!
The Best Things I Ate This Week
The Satisfying and Sincere Plates at Baobab Fare
I feel slightly daunted trying to summate anything about this gorgeous East African restaurant, Baobab Fare. Built by a lovely couple from Burundi, it’s hard to do anyone’s journey justice in a simple newsletter, but let me just say that a restaurant like this is thriving makes my heart sing.
Chef Hamissi Mamba (whose Instagram bio says “I sell rice & beans for a living”) has racked up numerous James Beard nominations and even won an episode of Chopped. The restaurant, which was started by he and his wife Nadia Nijimbere, has since expanded to a food truck, a catering business, and also a market. A second brick and mortar location is also on the way, and while the first joint opened in 2021, I can tell that Baobab Fare is already a cornerstone of the city.
It’s a self-described “celebration of East African food and culture,” but for people like myself, it’s also introduction to it. The Kuku ($20) features pan-fried chicken in a rich, tangy mustard-onion sauce, which comes served with fried plantains, stewed yellow beans, and your choice of spiced rice pilau or coconut rice. Everything on this plate sings the same melodic tune. The pilau rice is glossy and aromatic and imbued with warm seasonings. The stewed yellow beans are stunningly rich and flavorful; the fried plantains tender (not mushy) and sweet. Oh, and the chicken is lovely—mustardy and delicious and refreshingly simple.
The samaki ($22) is a plate of flash-fried white fish garnished with tangy sautéed onions and served with the same fried plantains, stewed yellow beans, choice of rice, plus a fresh corn salad. I love the pan-fried techniques here—it’s exactly the type of cooking that happens among friends and family. The pan, more than the grill or flattop or water oven, is an ambassador of home cooked meals.
How I personally processed the food at Baobab Fare:
It feels familiar, like a family prepared meal, but not the one I grew up with. Protein, a couple sides, some beans and rice—it’s all so simple, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was celebrating something totally unaware to me.
The jubilant plates at Baobab Fare widen your eyes when they hit the table: Each side is vibrant in flavor and appearance, each component cooked attentively and intimately. Everything mingles on the plate with complete joy. Sadly, it feels alien to sit down and eat food this thoughtful and healthful. I wish there were more of it.
I want to use the word nourishing here. This place is nourishing, and everything at Baobab Fare is worthy of your time.
Read this New York Times article about Baobab Fare for the full backstory.
Baobab Fare
6568 Woodward Ave Suite 100
Detroit, MI 48202
The Juicy Shawarma Missile at Bucharest Grill
Currently, I’m updating Eater Detroit’s list of affordable restaurants, adding some spots I love while axing a few others. One restaurant that won’t be budging from this list anytime soon is Bucharest Grill, a small Romanian chain here in Detroit specializing in shawarma. Detroit has plenty of great shawarma, with a lot of it skewing Turkish and Balkan, although, there’s so much intermingling that it’s hard to keep track of what tradition belongs to what country. Though, a lamb & beef Syrian shawarma spiced with baharat, wrapped with tahini, toum, and pickles probably tops my list.
The Bucharest Shawarma wrap goes for $8.50 and it’s one of the best deals in the city. It contains grilled marinated chicken breast, cabbage, tomato, fries, pickles, mayo, garlic spread, stuffed into a pita and wrapped tightly with foil. It’s a whole lot of toppings, vegetables, and sauce, and it’s juicy as all hell. The rich, garlicky toum and tangy pickles do well to make sure the fries don’t dry out the wrap. If you know me, you know I hate french fries in a sandwich, but here it works: These potatoes are decidedly of the frozen variety—covered in corn starch, soaked in oil, but nonetheless crispy and delicious.
This shawarma is as delicious as it is utilitarian. Forget science fiction meal-in-a-pills—this stout Middle-Eastern missile is the food of the future. I could eat it twice a week and not get tired of it. In fact, I just might.
Bucharest Grill
Multiple Locations
The Best Galette You’ve Never Had is at Sister Pie
The galette at Sister Pie ($6) continues to be one of the top breakfast options in the city. Most of the baked goods at Lisa Ludwinski’s shop are seasonal—save for the ceaseless rosemary cookies and salted maple pie—but everything else rotates with seasonal ingredients and creative moods. Scones change frequently, as do the cookies, and the galette is no different—its form changes from week to week, but every time it hits.
This particular galette featured thinly sliced potatoes, aged cheddar, and an egg. Oh, and make sure to get the swipe of mustardy Dijon which Lisa applies swiftly with her pastry knife. Apologies for the crassness here, but this galette is French as shit. Just smooth, buttery, mustardy flavors that have the ability to make you feel self-important first thing in the morning. I’m a king! Out of my way, idiots!
Sister Pie
8066 Kercheval Ave
Detroit, MI 48214
The Perfectly Constructed Banh Mi from 88 Banh Mi & Bowl
On Thursday, I checked out a Night Market called Little Asian Bites located at Eastern Market’s Shed 5. A collection of Asian street food vendors descended upon the shed with their delicious wares, and I saw everything from tall & twirly tornado potatoes, Korean fried chicken sandwiches, butter chicken tacos, sushi, Thai spring rolls, and so much more. I believe this is the third night market Little Asian Bites has put on, and it was a rousing success. Everybody was packed into the shed like sardines in spicy tomato sauce.
I hate lines, and 88 Banh Mi had a short one so I darted to it. Their banh mi absolutely rips. It featured butter and pâté, pork roll, Vietnamese ham, roasted pork belly, shredded chicken, grilled pork sausage, and a rich, and tangy homemade sauce.
This banh mi baguette is incredible, too— exceptionally crusty, flaky, soft, and not dry. Sometimes, banh mis can be a little dry. That wasn’t the case here. You know what this bread reminded me of? The Sicilian-style bread at Roma Market in Los Angeles. God damnit, I love that sandwich. It’s wild when two very disparate sandwiches shake hands like this, but 88 Banh Mi and Roma Market’s “The Sandwich” gave me similar vibes, right down to the price ($6 for Roma’s sando, and $5.99 for the 88 banh mi.)
88 Banh Mi’s entire menu looks dope. Also, shit, they do tornado potatoes on a stick? That’s rare street food to see available at a brick and mortar restaurant. You can also buy their Vietnamese baguette bread separately, too (99 cents for a large, and 45 cents for a mini.) If you’re making any sandwich at home in Detroit, I highly recommend it. I’ll probably use this crusty bread to make some Italian hoagies and bring them to the little community garden in my neighborhood, where I hang out with my dog, read books, and crush sandwiches.
88 Banh Mi
29200 Dequindre Rd. Ste 6
Warren, MI 48092
The Saccharine Pan de Coco from JP Makes & Bakes
I’m pretty familiar with Filipino food and all of its tangy and comforting dinner classics—kare kare, adobo, pancit, lumpia, and crispy sisig—but I was surprised to hear that there’s a dude in Detroit opening a Filipino bakery. JP (Jonathan Peregrino), is a strong baker with an eye towards Filipino flavors and modern techniques. I was happy to also catch him hanging out at the Little Bites night market.
Pan de Coco is a soft, dinner-roll adjacent Filipino bread stuffed with coconut, brown sugar, and vanilla. The interior carries a real baklava taste—intensely saccharine and juicy, but also floral. I was delighted at the simple sweetness of this coconut stuffed dinner roll. Filipino baked goods are a revelation anywhere; I’m stoked for JP to be opening up his shop soon in Detroit.
His calamansi olive oil cake had sold out by the time I arrived, but I can taste the rich, citrusy flavors now. Keep an eye out for that olive oil cake. It sounds like a winner.
JP Makes & Bakes
Instagram (store coming soon)
That’s it! Thanks for reading (or listening to) The Move!! If you have anything in Detroit or beyond you want me to eat and write about, let me know. Some people seemed to get super pissed that I talked a bunch of shit about Primanti Brothers online, but hey, they’ll be fine. French fries on a sandwich is simply not my thing. Unless it’s shawarma.
Subscribe! Leave a comment! Like this post! That would be a huge help to me. Pay if you want, as always. Thanks, friends.