40 March 7 • 2019
jn
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F
oodies, hipsters
and others are
drawn to the
creativity on display
at Flowers of Vietnam
restaurant in south-
west Detroit.
The area is best
known for its notable
Mexican eateries, but
Flowers chef George Azar, 30, is nei-
ther Vietnamese nor Mexican. He’
s
a Palestinian-American born in the
same Mexicantown neighborhood
as his restaurant, about two miles
from the Ambassador Bridge. Azar’
s
longtime mentor and the restaurant
co-owner is Paul Saginaw, the Jewish
co-founder of Zingerman’
s Deli and
other Ann Arbor-based businesses.
“I always ate
Vietnamese food
and didn’
t want
to keep driving to
Madison Heights
to get it,” explained
Azar, referring to
the notable Asian
restaurants based
in this Oakland
County suburb.
A culinary arts graduate of
Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Azar
cooked at prominent restaurants that
included Alinea in Chicago. Back in
Detroit, he decided to start Flowers
of Vietnam after people flocked to
the weekend pop-up dinners he host-
ed in his father’
s “intimate” Vernor
Coney Island. After opening there
to great acclaim in 2017, including
being named to several “Best” restau-
rant lists, Flowers closed for reno-
vation during most of the following
year.
An estimated $750,000 improved
the kitchen and brought the entire
100-year-old building up to code.
Since reopening on Jan. 10, 2018,
Flowers is back to its honor-winning
ways, most recently described as
“Best Pop-Up Turned Full-Service
Restaurant” in Hour Detroit’
s March
2019 issue.
Flowers now takes up three store-
fronts. Guests enter through the orig-
inal luncheonette space, where they
can eat at the counter or proceed to
the unpretentious adjoining dining
room. A bar area is on the farthest
side.
Azar researched extensively,
including travels to Vietnam, to
develop his recipes, but takes pride
that his place is not a “mom-and-
pop-type restaurant. We are progres-
sive for Vietnamese food. I do what I
feel is appropriate for me.”
Azar said his favorite menu items
are also customer favorites, including
caramel chicken wings, “broken”
rice with Chinese sausage, “shaky
beef” — prime 30-day dry-aged rib-
eye cap, fried tofu, papaya salad and
Vietnamese-style fried
whole fish.
Dining recently with
my friend Diane, we
were smitten with our
shared wings appetizer.
Red Boat-brand fish
sauce is mixed with
palm sugar and cara-
melized for the thick,
crunchy batter. The
taste is sweet, with a pleasant kick.
Herb aioli, light green and fragrant
from Thai basil, accompanies the
wings.
The whole fish we were brought
to eat with eyes and tail intact was
somewhat daunting, but Diane and
I were up to the challenge. After
removing the vertebrae, our mighty
forks scooped up white fish flesh,
banana blossoms, black “Chinese
forbidden rice,” spicy-sweet tomato
sauce and cilantro. The flavors were
complex and satisfying.
“The fish has been on our menu
since Day One,” Azar said “We serve
bream, a species that’
s not overly
fished.” Supplies might come from
Australia or Oregon.
Flowers is open only 5-11 p.m.
Wednesday-Sunday, but weekend
brunch is coming. ■
Esther Allweiss
Ingber
Contributing Writer
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PHOTO CREDIT: ESTHER INGBER
FLOWERS OF VIETNAM
4430 Vernor Highway
Detroit, MI 48209
Phone: (313) 554-2084
www.flowersofvietnam.com
$$$ out of $$$$
Fried bream
Fried bream
Flowers of Vietnam
dining around the d
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