Harmonie Garden back where it belongs at Motor City college
http://www.newmichiganmedia.com/articles/45/1/Harmonie-Garden-back-where-it-belongs-at-Motor-City-college/Page1.html
New Michigan Media
New Michigan Media, NMM, is a network of ethnic and minority media in the State of Michigan who first came together in 2006 under the direction of Professor Hayg Oshagan, director of NMM, at Wayne State University's Department of Communication. The NMM network works to represent the 100+ ethnic and minority media outlets in Michigan, which represent hundreds of thousands of readers, viewers and listeners in the Michigan media market. New Michigan Media
Published on June 6th, 2011
Owner Taher Jaber first brought his Middle Eastern cuisine specialties to downtown Detroit in 1993 and he recently opened his new restaurant, Harmonie Garden Cafe, in the midtown area of Wayne State University.
Jaber has acquired a large customer base including students, doctors, professors and more looking for healthy food options in the area, and he's known for his falafel.
Jaber recently learned one customer even named her daughter after the original restaurant.
Jaber has acquired a large customer base including students, doctors, professors and more looking for healthy food options in the area, and he's known for his falafel.
Jaber recently learned one customer even named her daughter after the original restaurant.
Longtime customer names daughter after popular restaurant
In the business world, the first golden rule is that the customer is always right. So when Taher Jaber, owner of Harmonie Garden Cafe, began getting tons of requests to move back to his old stronghold at Wayne State University in Detroit, it was almost as if he had no choice but to listen to the customers.
Jaber's restaurant began in 1993 at Harmonie Park closer to downtown Detroit. He moved to Wayne State and was there until 2004. Back at Harmonie Park until 2009 he began getting all the requests to move back to campus.
Now he's in the new location on the site of the old Tapper's Bar building. And this time around, he brought plenty of falafel sandwiches with him. The long-time owner and Middle Eastern food connoisseur gave out more than 600 of the sandwiches on New Year's Eve, 2010 as part of the grand opening of his new Midtown location at 4704 Anthony Wayne Dr. in Detroit.
Customers on campus have especially welcomed a healthy restaurant in the area. Now that the location has become well known to customers, thanks to word of mouth, Jaber has flourished. Harmonie Garden was recently given a "Best of Detroit" award in the Middle Eastern restaurant category by the popular Metro Times publication.
The original goal of the falafel giveaway for Jaber was 1,000 sandwiches, but inclement weather held his plan back a bit. Still, once word got out on campus, customers started walking up in groups of 5-10 to see what all the fuss was about.
“First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate all the customers here and that's why I wanted to come back to campus and have a day like this,” Jaber said.
“I want everybody on campus to taste the real stuff, we make our falafel from scratch with all the right spices like they have in the Middle East and that's what we want to bring to the students.”
Jaber is so fond of falafel that he even has a license plate sporting the popular dish's namesake which has drawn some people to pull him over to take pictures with it within the city of Detroit.
Jaber's restaurant began in 1993 at Harmonie Park closer to downtown Detroit. He moved to Wayne State and was there until 2004. Back at Harmonie Park until 2009 he began getting all the requests to move back to campus.
Now he's in the new location on the site of the old Tapper's Bar building. And this time around, he brought plenty of falafel sandwiches with him. The long-time owner and Middle Eastern food connoisseur gave out more than 600 of the sandwiches on New Year's Eve, 2010 as part of the grand opening of his new Midtown location at 4704 Anthony Wayne Dr. in Detroit.
Customers on campus have especially welcomed a healthy restaurant in the area. Now that the location has become well known to customers, thanks to word of mouth, Jaber has flourished. Harmonie Garden was recently given a "Best of Detroit" award in the Middle Eastern restaurant category by the popular Metro Times publication.
The original goal of the falafel giveaway for Jaber was 1,000 sandwiches, but inclement weather held his plan back a bit. Still, once word got out on campus, customers started walking up in groups of 5-10 to see what all the fuss was about.
“First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate all the customers here and that's why I wanted to come back to campus and have a day like this,” Jaber said.
“I want everybody on campus to taste the real stuff, we make our falafel from scratch with all the right spices like they have in the Middle East and that's what we want to bring to the students.”
Jaber is so fond of falafel that he even has a license plate sporting the popular dish's namesake which has drawn some people to pull him over to take pictures with it within the city of Detroit.
He said that about 70% of his customer base is comprised of vegetarians looking for new options in the area. “Tofu is just so plain, so boring,” Jaber said.
Now customers, most of them students, sit at the bar to enjoy a cup of hot tea, a raw juice smoothie, or Arabic coffee while discussing the day's events in a relaxing, casual atmosphere.
“A lot of students come in here in groups and end up staying for two to three hours just hanging out, drinking tea or Arabic coffee,” said hostess Nikki Patel. “It's a good atmosphere for students, it's very down-to-earth here.”
Graduate student Michael Schmitt said he was glad to see Harmonie Garden back and said he's been a patron for about 10 years.
“I'm very happy they're back over here, especially since I live just around the block,” he said.
“I'm a vegetarian and the flavor's great and you get a lot of choices here. The difference is in the preparation.”
Customers especially like Jaber's own Flying Camel hot sauce, which is made from healthy ingredients such as cayenne pepper and olive oil. It's well-known across parts of the campus according to Jaber and the WSU School of Medicine is also a staple group of customers for Jaber as the students and faculty there tend to choose healthier options.
John Chetcuti is another long-time customer. “I think the students understand more about what it is to prepare truly healthy options fresh like he does every day and it's great that Harmonie Garden is back here,” he said.
Among the popular options offered by Harmonie Garden Cafe are a variety of vegetarian platters including mujadra, veggie stir fry, and more along with several falafel recipes including the fala burger, the BBQ falafel pita, and the “Flobby Joe,” a take on the Sloppy Joe sandwich with vegetarian chili sauce.
Now customers, most of them students, sit at the bar to enjoy a cup of hot tea, a raw juice smoothie, or Arabic coffee while discussing the day's events in a relaxing, casual atmosphere.
“A lot of students come in here in groups and end up staying for two to three hours just hanging out, drinking tea or Arabic coffee,” said hostess Nikki Patel. “It's a good atmosphere for students, it's very down-to-earth here.”
Graduate student Michael Schmitt said he was glad to see Harmonie Garden back and said he's been a patron for about 10 years.
“I'm very happy they're back over here, especially since I live just around the block,” he said.
“I'm a vegetarian and the flavor's great and you get a lot of choices here. The difference is in the preparation.”
Customers especially like Jaber's own Flying Camel hot sauce, which is made from healthy ingredients such as cayenne pepper and olive oil. It's well-known across parts of the campus according to Jaber and the WSU School of Medicine is also a staple group of customers for Jaber as the students and faculty there tend to choose healthier options.
John Chetcuti is another long-time customer. “I think the students understand more about what it is to prepare truly healthy options fresh like he does every day and it's great that Harmonie Garden is back here,” he said.
Among the popular options offered by Harmonie Garden Cafe are a variety of vegetarian platters including mujadra, veggie stir fry, and more along with several falafel recipes including the fala burger, the BBQ falafel pita, and the “Flobby Joe,” a take on the Sloppy Joe sandwich with vegetarian chili sauce.
Seafood options, breakfast options like omelets, meat platters, sandwiches and more are all offered and catering and delivery are available as well by calling 313.638.2345.
There is also a popular Sunday brunch from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. featuring Jaber's famous whole wheat nutty pancakes, fresh fruit, halal bacon and sausage, and Indian and Arabic food specialties among other specialty dishes.
One customer, who remembered Jaber's food from the good old days, even named her daughter Harmonie after the restaurant.
"She came in and surprised me, saying she wanted to order food for her daughter Harmonie," Jaber said.
There is also a popular Sunday brunch from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. featuring Jaber's famous whole wheat nutty pancakes, fresh fruit, halal bacon and sausage, and Indian and Arabic food specialties among other specialty dishes.
One customer, who remembered Jaber's food from the good old days, even named her daughter Harmonie after the restaurant.
"She came in and surprised me, saying she wanted to order food for her daughter Harmonie," Jaber said.