The best food in metro Detroit according to Chef Hamissi Mamba of Baobab Fare

By Layla McMurtrie on Sat, Apr 13, 2024 at 1:15 pm

Mark Kurlyandchik / Booth One Creative

Hamissi Mamba (right) talking to Chef Masai May (left), a former cook at Baobab Fare who is now chef de cuisine of Hamilton’s in Corktown.

To continue highlighting the best of Detroit’s cuisine after last month’s list from Chef James Rigato, we thought Chef Hamissi Mamba would be another great person to advise on the subject. Mamba is the chef at James Beard-nominated Baobab Fare, which he opened alongside his wife Nadia Nijimbere.

“It’s amazing to see how the food scene in Detroit has changed since I moved here in 2015. One of the things that motivated us to open a restaurant was because we didn’t have a lot of options of food to enjoy. Since then we’ve seen the improvement in options of restaurants. And not only options, but also restaurants that lead with their values and mission and community-building,” Mamba says. “I also have to mention how much African restaurants have grown in Detroit since I got here. Before we opened, people were very skeptical of African food in Detroit. Goat was hard to sell. YumVillage was running a food truck back then. Now there’s about to be a brick-and-mortar of Konjo Me, Little Liberia, and YumVillage is our neighbor — and goat is our best seller! It’s amazing.”

Mamba and Nijimbere started Baobab as a pop-up in 2017 before opening their brick-and-mortar in Detroit’s New Center area in 2021, and a food truck named Waka in 2022. Last month, they closed on a purchase for a second location on the city’s eastside.

“The food scene has changed so much that people are open to trying new things and it’s a lot easier to introduce something new,” Mamba continues. “This list of my favorite restaurants is so diverse, and that’s what’s beautiful about this place. You walk into a place and you are welcome. It’s more like a community or a family. We support each other’s causes and help each other through any struggles. It’s why we say ‘Detroit Ni Nyumbani’ — Detroit is home. We couldn’t have done this and been as successful anywhere else.”

Here are Mamba’s favorite metro Detroit restaurants, in no particular order:

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Chartreuse/Facebook

Chartreuse

15 E. Kirby St., Detroit; chartreusekc.com

“Sandy Levine is the first person to introduce us to the food industry in Detroit. Since then, every time when anything big happens, like when we got the James Beard nomination, he’s the first person to call me with congratulations. When I walk into Chartreuse with my family, I feel like I’m home. The staff knows us there. The food is amazing. And one thing I love about them is you have a lot of non-fish, non-meat options, and they’re always great.”

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Ima
4870 Cass Avenue; imanoodles.com
“My mosque is nearby and every Friday before I go to the mosque I stop by Ima to eat. They have a seafood kimchi ramen that’s got a really nice heat and fishiness that I love. Michael Ransom helped us a lot with our POS system and his director of operations Rob Stone has been there since day one helping us with procedures and training. He gave me his phone number and said to call me anytime. They are amazing people.”

Ima / Facebook

Ima

4870 Cass Avenue; imanoodles.com

“My mosque is nearby and every Friday before I go to the mosque I stop by Ima to eat. They have a seafood kimchi ramen that’s got a really nice heat and fishiness that I love. Michael Ransom helped us a lot with our POS system and his director of operations Rob Stone has been there since day one helping us with procedures and training. He gave me his phone number and said to call me anytime. They are amazing people.”

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Tom Perkins

Warda Patisserie

70 W. Alexandrine St., Detroit; warda-patisserie-midtown.square.site

“I call Warda my sister. In my opinion, I feel she makes the best pastries that I’ve ever had in the United States. The pastries are great and always fresh. And not only that, but she brings flavors that you don’t see naturally in the pastries. She’s someone I can call and express my emotions. That’s the kind of relationship I have with her. To see her growing from Trinosophes to this location and then winning a James Beard Award makes me so proud to see another African represented this way.”

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City of Detroit, Flickr Creative Commons

Good Cakes and Bakes

19363 Livernois Ave., Detroit; 313-468-9915; goodcakesandbakes.com

“April Anderson is another sister. I think she was my idol when I came to Detroit. Reading her story and what she went through and building the brand that she has, I was like, ‘When I grow up I want to be like her.’ I was so excited to meet her. I will never forget that day because it was like meeting a celebrity. It was at the same time we were struggling a lot with Baobab Fare because we didn’t have enough money, and she always sent me links of things to apply for and people to talk to. To see her as a Black woman and part of a gay couple, her and Michelle, what they have to go through, their story gives me hope that we can climb a mountain and overcome any challenges that we face. And her cookies are the best, honestly. She’s so demanding of her product, that the consistency is always there.”

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Tom Perkins

Bash Izakaya

5069 Trumbull St., Detroit; bashdetroit.com

“My daughter Kenza really loves sushi. I was introduced to that place and I think it was a Monday when everything else was closed. We went there. We walked in and we loved it. The sushi, the variety of sushi, and the sushi boat is great. We enjoyed it and since then it’s been a go-to place for me and the girls.”

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Randiah Camille Green

See You Tomorrow

7760 Woodward Ave., Detroit; sytdet.com

“We won Motor City Match together at the same time and Julian and Lisa Hill are such great people. At the time that we applied for Motor City Match, we were the only teams on Woodward. And since then we’ve been close together. What they’re trying to bring to that area is great. I’m not a chicken and waffle guy, but theirs is the best. I just discovered the way they fry the chicken is different. It’s not deep-fried, it’s pressure-fried, which makes it so, so good. And another thing, in that area you only have fast food, but having See You Tomorrow as a nicer place gives the people that live around there a better option.”

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Tom Perkins

Dearborn Meat Market

7721 Schaefer Rd., Dearborn; dearbornmeatmarket.com

“The way they grill the meat is the same way that we grill the meat in Burundi, on charcoal. The meat is there and fresh. You can’t go wrong with that. I don’t have a connection with the owners or anything, but the meat is so good. And it’s all halal, so I don’t have to be picky.”

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Google Maps

Supino Pizzeria

6519 Woodward Ave., Detroit; | 2457 Russell St., Detroit; supinopizzeria.com

“For me it’s the best pizza. It’s thin. I don’t like thick pizza. And Dave Mancini is an amazing guy. Again, he’s always there to help. And what I love from Dave is that he’s not shy to ask for help as well. He will call me if he needs anything, and I love that. It’s how Africans are. He’s such a good neighbor. It’s really not crazy expensive and they are open on Monday. If we’re working at Baobab Fare, we can grab pizza for our staff and ourselves and it’s always so good.”

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Courtesy photo

Hamilton’s

1401 Michigan Ave., Detroit; hamiltonscorktown.com

“This is a new place, but Masai May, the chef de cuisine there, is like my brother. He started at Baobab Fare. I always mentored him and pushed him. And now to sit there inside a nice place like Hamilton’s and see him in the kitchen as the chef makes me so proud. I always remembered what drove Masai was to have diversity and Black people in the kitchen. And when you go to Hamilton’s that’s what you will see. He kept his vision. And his generosity to feed people and create the food that he loves in a place like that is amazing. He’s from Detroit and creating something in Detroit. You can’t ask more. And the food is always so good because he always wants to bring something African-related into what he’s doing and cooking. Sometimes you feel the flavors you get there are his flavors. I feel like there’s some African influence in what he’s doing. For me, that is the best. Watch out for this guy, Detroit.”

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Serena Maria Daniels

Brooklyn Street Local

1266 Michigan Ave., Detroit; brooklynstreetlocal.com

“This is where it all started. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. We did our first pop-up at Brooklyn Street Local. We didn’t know Deveri Gifford and Jason Yates, but our friend Nick George introduced us to them. We asked how much it would be to have a pop-up there and they said, ‘It’s free.’ That was my first time in the United States somebody giving us their space for free. Brooklyn Street is like our lucky charm. We started there and won Hatch and look where we are now. It’s a very special place for me. And the food is great. They have my favorite burger. When I have people from out-of-town, that’s where I bring them for brunch. Because it’s a very symbolic restaurant for me to tell that story. Also on Michigan Avenue. It’s small, nicer, sitting outside in the summertime — it’s just perfect to take guests. They have this fresh-pressed orange juice. Oh my goodness. The fries are the best.”

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Tom Perkins (A döner kebab)

Balkan House

3028 Caniff St., Hamtramck | 314 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; thebalkanhouse.com

"My friend Juma Ekic and her husband Hassan have twin boys. And we have twin girls. So when they were really young, we planned a date together for them to play. And we always had events together with our food trucks, so we had to find someone to watch both sets of twins while we worked. Their family shares the same story as us. We are both refugees who came to Detroit not just to seek asylum but to pursue our dreams and find a better life. Their struggles are the same, just from a different continent. I had a doner kebab for the first time in my life from them. I love when the mayo gets all over your lips. So good."

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