A popular East African food truck in Eastern Market is making its presence more permanent.
James Beard Award nominees Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere announced Wednesday that Waka – the sister brand of their award-winning Baobab Fare restaurant – will be serving up chapati (East African flatbread) and brochettes later this summer from a new brick-and-mortar.
Related:
- James Beard semi-finalist Baobab Fare closes on new east side location
- Detroit’s Baobab Fare wins Food Network’s Chopped
- In Detroit, coffee from the African diaspora
When it debuts, Waka by Baobab Fare will bring culture and community back to 2465 Russell, an iconic gathering place in Detroit’s historic Eastern Market that was home to Russell Street Deli for more than 30 years, the owners say.
“We didn’t want to go anywhere else to start this,” co-owner Hamissi Mamba said in a news release. “People here in Detroit take care of us, so this idea of bringing East African street food to America has to start here. This is home, and we are so thankful to be able to grow our business and build on our story right here in Eastern Market.”
Mamba and Nijimbere are leasing the Russell Street space that will undergo a $600,000 overhaul. Waka will seat approximately 30 guests, offering fast-casual counter service for dine-in, as well as freshly prepared meals to go and a curated selection of coffee, chocolate, beverages, and other items from the couple’s retail line, Soko.
The Waka food truck debuted in 2022 at Detroit’s Noel Night as a street food spinoff of the Baobab Fare restaurant in New Center. Mamba and Nijimbere — both refugees from Burundi — started Baobab Fare as a pop-up in 2017 before opening up their first restaurant at Woodward and E. Grand Boulevard in February 2021.
The plans for Waka come after the couple’s March purchase of another brick-and-mortar on the city’s east side.
Baobab Fare East will be located in a former video store-turned-tax office on E. Warren Avenue. Renovation work for that project is expected to get underway in July, with an opening pegged for late December.
Mamba, a Food Network Chopped winner, said there’s potential grant funding on the horizon to help support the $1.3 million project near E. Warren and Cadieux. The area is emerging as a Black-owned economic center with the addition of establishments like Savoy restaurant, which opened in January, as well as Detroit Pepper Co., Next Chapter Books, MorningSide Cafe, Flamz Pizzeria and The J Spot.
As for Waka, Mamba noted his mother sold chapati and brochettes at the bustling markets of Bujumbura when he was a child and Eastern Market is a fitting location for the brick-and-mortar of the bright yellow Waka food truck, which can be found parked outside Shed 5 once a month.
Nijimbere said Waka will be a completely different and distinct concept from the future east side restaurant while still paying homage to the couple’s homeland.
At Waka, stewed meats and vegetables typical of Burundian cuisine come wrapped in chapati, a flaky East African flatbread. Waka’s brick-and-mortar will build on the food truck’s offerings, expanding the menu to include staple street food dishes like brochettes, East African-style skewered meat kabobs grilled over charcoal.
“All of the flavors that people love from Baobab Fare are here, but Waka is even more fast and accessible,” she said. “We are proud of what we’ve done with the food truck, but a permanent kitchen and a place you can always find Waka is so important. We are so excited to bring even more tastes of our culture to Detroit.”
I am so pleased to learn of these developments. Much success 🙌