Ana Sortun’s Chicken Shawarma with roasted chicken and garlic sauce

Join Zingerman’s Roadhouse for an unforgettable experience at our Arab American Special Dinner #217 with culinary genius Ana Sortun! Check out the full menu and reserve your spot now.

Warm, buttery hummus. Roasted chicken wrapped in delicate flatbread. Brown butter pecan pie. At the Roadhouse we are known for our comfort food, and the dishes we are featuring at our upcoming Arab American dinner with Ana Sortun are heartwarming and delicious.

The James Beard award-winning chef will introduce us to an incredible array of flavors from the Middle East on November 14th, all from her cookbook Soframiz. The book features incredible Lebanese, Turkish, and Greek recipes from Sofra Bakery and Café in Cambridge, which she opened in 2008.

Amazon.com calls Soframiz “A charming collection of 100 recipes…showcasing modern Middle Eastern spices and flavors with exotic yet accessible sweet and savory dishes geared toward everyday cooking and entertaining.”

The word sofra in Turkish is synonymous with hospitality and generosity, and it can also refer to a table set for a meal. It is a word that conjures a beautiful image of togetherness as we gather around a table of food made with love. Yet it’s one that can extend beyond family and capture the heart of a community.

Check out the full menu and reserve your spot for our Arab American Special Dinner

A dash of diversity and a sprinkle of love, right here in Michigan.

Just as Ana’s menu for our special dinner will be rich in flavor, Southeastern Michigan is rich in Arab-American diversity. The turn of the 20th century brought many immigrants to the Metro Detroit area from the Middle East. One theory is that the rise of Ford provided jobs to immigrants in the auto-industry. As families settled in the area, they also opened local businesses to support the community. The first purpose-built mosque in the United States was built in Highland Park. When Ford moved to Dearborn, Arab-Americans followed him there to continue working for him.

Even after the decline of the auto industry, Metro Detroit has continued to be a significant area for people to continue flocking to as different areas of the Middle East have suffered hardship over the decades. The Arab-American population in Southeastern Michigan includes people from Yemen, Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria, just to name a few.

Carrot Kibbeh Stuffed with Labanese

Spice makes everything nice!

Any culture with such a profound impact offers a wealth of stories, not to mention really good food. Living in Southeastern Michigan, we can fill our tables with mouthwatering dishes using local ingredients, but then add a pinch of spice that adds flavors we can only experience because of history and movement.

Gozleme is a warm, flaky flatbread, and spread with butternut squash purée from Roadhouse Farm it is amazing. Add a dash of sumac for a hint of lemony flavor and a little tomato-brown butter, and now we have a dish that evokes flavors you can’t get anywhere else. How could one resist kibbeh, a soft golden dumpling that melts in your mouth, made with Roadhouse Farm carrots and Swiss chard? It’s going to be hard knowing that each bite will offer raisins, pine nuts, and a smoky paprika to highlight the taste of our yummy vegetables.

Just as the Roadhouse will extend hospitality at our Arab American Dinner with Ana Sortun, we are excited to offer the flavors of a culture rich in diversity that has helped shape the community we call home. We will be selling Ana’s cookbook Soframiz at the dinner, so these approachable recipes can be recreated with ounces of generosity in your kitchen at home. Join us while we savor the warmth at this incredible dinner!

Sign up today at zingermansroadhouse.com! In honor of Zingerman’s 35th Anniversary celebration, the 35th person to sign up for this dinner will win a free copy of Soframiz, a $35 value!