Detroit’s Baobab Fare is among finalists for upcoming James Beard Award

This year’s James Beard Awards ceremony is happening on Monday and Detroit’'s popular East African restaurant Baobab Fare is in the running.

The prestigious event will recognize chefs and restaurants across 22 categories, showcasing a diverse array of cuisines and expertise. Among the most anticipated categories are Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Chef, and Best Restaurant.

Baobab Fare is one of five finalists for the Outstanding Restaurateur award.

Chef Hamissi Mamba and his wife, Nadia Nijimbere, founded Baobab Fare as a pop-up in 2017 after moving to Detroit from Burundi.

“I came to Detroit joining my wife in 2015, where she came before me in 2013, both came as refugees,” Mamba said in a video interview with the Associated Press . “We didn’t speak the language, you can imagine how life was not easy for us and [we] couldn’t get a job. The idea was ‘how can we survive?’ and then Nadia came up with idea of opening a restaurant.”

Quickly, Baobab became a success.

The couple opened their brick-and-mortar location in Detroit’s New Center area in 2021, followed by a sister food truck named Waka in 2022. In the last few months, they’ve secured a second location for Baobab on the city’s east side and a brick-and-mortar spot for Waka in Eastern Market.

After being semifinalists for the past three years, this is the first time Baobab Fare has advanced to the final round of the James Beard Awards.

“This is already a win for us,” Mamba continued in the video. “It’s just amazing, it’s a big deal. We inspire a lot of refugees who are coming to this country without hope and one day thinking that they can win this kind of title. It’s a big deal for us because we want to show people that this world can be equal.”

We’re rooting for Baobab Fare and Detroit.

The only other Michigan finalist is metro Detroit chef Hajime Sato of Sozai in Clawson, who is in the running for Best Chef in the Great Lakes region.

Sato was one of the five local chefs named as semifinalists for this category, alongside Doug Hewitt of Detroit’s Freya, Ji Hye Kim of Ann Arbor’s Miss Kim, Dan Klenotic of Bellflower in Ypsilanti, and John Yelinek of Ladder 4 Wine Bar in Detroit.

Other local restaurants in the semifinals included AlTayeb, Nepantla Cafe, Selden Standard, and more.

The 2024 James Beard Award winners will be announced on Monday at a ceremony held in Chicago.