Saturday, April 27, 2024

Inside Dearborn's Qahwah House, a farm-to-mug Yemeni coffee shop

qahwah house

Alhasbani revels in his customer’s first impulse upon settling down with the goods. They usually bust out their phones for an overhead shot of the dainty Arabic-style glass flute teacups and clear kettle arranged on a tray. The Clifton café, which opened Nov. 6, is in a location that straddles the border with Paterson in an area that is home to many Middle Eastern restaurants, bakeries and grocery stories. Add to that the belief that Yemen is the origin of the first coffee plant in the world, and you have a story rife with symbolism.

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The bars, restaurants and coffee shops that surround the market are available to feed visitors year-round. Visiting this warehouse district where buildings are painted with murals by local and global artists and live music often echoes throughout the streets is a must. The only American city with an Arab majority, Dearborn’s dining scene is rich with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants of various cultures.

For many Muslims and Arab Americans, Yemeni coffee shop Qahwah House feels like home

"They go beyond coffee. If there's a conversation, the staff know a lot about the product, the history of the coffee, where the beans are coming from. The first time Husam Kaid tried Adeni chai (Yemeni tea) at Qahwah House, it reminded him of Yemen. One sip and he was reminiscing about Ramadan nights in the old city of Sanaa.

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My advice is to always drink it black so you can taste our delicious coffee, not the cream and sugar. With this situation in Yemen it’s hard to bring coffee beans to the U.S.A. It’s a challenge, but you have to take a risk. A Yemeni immigrant, Ibrahim has been roasting and brewing coffee in Dearborn for two years. But not just any coffee—he imports all his beans directly from his own family farm that he grew up on in Yemen. With political disturbances in Yemen, Ibrahim has had his fair share of challenges in importing, but he perseveres.

qahwah house

The coffee trees stretch across fertile terraces carved into mountainsides and thrive in the warm climate and high altitude. And if you’re a local food enthusiast unwilling to brave a busy downtown, consider this your playbook for eating around the Draft. There’s much to metro Detroit’s food landscape beyond the downtown area, though. “It is social, it is ceremonial, it is essentially an experience, not simply a drink to consume,” he added. It is social, it is ceremonial, it is essentially an experience, not simply a drink to consume. Qahwah House, founded by Ibrahem Alhasbani and known for its authentic Yemeni coffee, honeycomb dessert and various other delectable items, has locations in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and now Ohio.

qahwah house

There is a genuine sense of ceremony when you order a cup at Qahwah House

He grew up around coffee and believes the best beans are from Yemen. The burlap bags of coffee stacked around the shop coupled with images of Alhasbani and his family’s farm conveys the farm-to-cup concept that ensures the quality of the coffee is controlled by those who grow it. Yemeni farmers would grow coffee in the mountains around Sanaa, while the merchants readied it for export at the Yemeni port of Mocha, a city on Yemen’s western coast that borders the Red Sea, Morris says.

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People who come in groups typically order the teas and coffees in pot sizes. The small pot is $9 and serves one to two people, while two to three can share the medium for $13, and the large is $22 and serves three to four people, though the servings can be stretched, depending on the pour. Arif Jaffery, partner and managing director of Qahwah House, says the timing is critical for Yemeni drinks like adeni chai, and communication is quintessential for the entire operation. And naturally, Alhasbani sources the beans directly from his family’s eighth-generation farm in the Sanaa region of Yemen. Alhasbani’s vision when he opened his first location in Dearborn in 2017 was to bring his homeland back to the forefront of coffee culture.

Qahwah House in Lombard takes coffee back to…

Now that you’re familiar with each neighborhood, check out the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Best Restaurants Guide. Our food team has compiled 10 years of our Top 10 New Restaurants and Restaurant of the Year lists into one comprehensive directory of the best restaurants throughout Detroit and its surrounding cities. On the city’s west side, Livernois Avenue boasts a rich presence of food businesses that reflect the African diaspora. Black-owned diners, restaurants, takeout joints and bakeries line the strip.

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As its name implies, Greektown’s culinary identity is largely shaped by early Greek settlers. Here, you’ll find saganaki, or flaming cheese, on just about any menu as well as Greek salads, gyros and baklava. Over the years, Greektown has introduced a range of cuisines, from barbecue joints to Detroit-favorite pizza shops, and has developed a bustling nightlife scene. If you’re looking for a lively dinner or a walkable bar crawl just outside of downtown Detroit, Greektown is likely your best bet. Yasen made a point to mention the rich history of coffee within Yemen, sharing that it was the first country to produce and export coffee across the globe. DEARBORN—A cup of Joe is readily available at almost every intersection in the metropolitan area, especially Dearborn, where coffee shops, diners, hookah bars and gas stations all boast a bold and strong coffee.

Waell Ali, co-owner of the newest Clifton branch in New Jersey, lives in New York and has been friends with Ibrahim since before the founding of Qahwah House. Waell started getting involved when the Brooklyn branch opened around three years ago. The place fills up with the sounds of Arabic music playing in the background, people catching up with old friends and making new ones or meeting with a potential spouse, and families playing card games. “We receive the Yemeni green beans from our warehouse in Michigan that we roast weekly — so our concept is not just freshly brewed, but freshly roasted as well,” Jaffery says. Soon Yemen became the center of coffee export with trade running from the Indian Ocean into the gulf — a depiction spelled out on a large map on the wall opposite the service counter at Qahwah House in Lombard. The caffeine in coffee would help the Sufis get into elevated spiritual “highs,” Morris adds.

COLUMBUS — Abdelrahman Yasen, a former employee of Qahwah House in Dearborn, has opened his own franchise in Columbus, Ohio with his brother Abdalziz, expanding the franchise to a new state. Located at 189 E Main Street, Columbus, Ohio, the coffee shop will be open to the public in roughly four weeks. A neat feature to Yemeni coffee is that the beans are naturally sweet, and sometimes they consist of fruity notes like mango. Both the tea and coffee served can include added spices, depending on what the customer wants. The pride for his family, home country, and the history of the Yemeni coffee bean all fuel Alhasbani’s passion for running a café.

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