“I’m
not Vietnamese so I feel I have to respect [the cuisine] as much as possible,”
says George Azar, the chef and owner of soon-to-reopen Vietnamese restaurant,
Flowers of Vietnam. Azar is a Southwest Detroit native — born to Palestinian
parents — who upon moving back to the Motor City after working in fine dining
restaurants around the country noticed a serious underrepresentation of his
favorite cuisine. So Flowers of Vietnam was born.
Now,
Azar is working with his Vietnamese sous chef to open a bigger version of the
restaurant, which host Sheldon Simeon visits on this episode of Cooking in
America. Aside from wanting to fulfill a craving for banh mis, Azar decided on
Southwest Detroit for Flower of Vietnam as a way to bring the city together.
“Until we have restaurants in neighborhoods other than the ones that are
already developed, there will never be one Detroit,” says Azar.
By Eater