“The concept is working faster than what I anticipated,” enthuses longtime restaurateur Ali Hijazi of the reopening of the Colonnade location of Zamaan Cafe under the full-time care of Iranian-born partner and chef Arash Sharifi Movahed.
After eleven years in the semicircular shopping center off W. Eisenhower, Zamaan went on hiatus last fall, reopening early this year as what Hijazi thought was “the first Persian restaurant in Ann Arbor.” It’s not the first, but it’s been a while: Marketplace Changes noted one in Maple Village back in the 1980s.
It’s Hijazi’s second restaurant to fuse national cuisines: Last fall, he and brothers Lorenzo and Luis-Hernando Viera-Patron launched El Limōn in Plymouth Road Mall, combining Lebanese and Mexican influences to offer chicken shawarma burritos and falafel tacos.
At the Colonnade, Hijazi says, he and Sharifi Movahed are “trying to introduce a Persian-Lebanese way of cooking to make it a little bit different” from the traditional Lebanese approach at the Zamaan in the Plymouth Green-Crossings Shopping Center.
Sharifi Movahed’s expanded role at Zamaan follows a career in information technology but also allows him to continue a side gig as “DJ Arash.” A corner of the restaurant hosts his gear for musical entertainment on birthdays and other special events.
Certain dishes, such as shish kafta and tawook, have been adapted to the Persian cooking style, which relies more on natural flavors and juices than spices, Hijazi explains. Entrées of okra and eggplant and desserts of pistachio and saffron are new, though their updated menu and website hadn’t rolled out by press time.
That’s apparently not as big an issue as it might seem. “When we opened, a lot of Persians, they knew about the place, so they’ve been coming from all over metro Detroit,” Hijazi reports. “And most of them, you know, the way they order is ‘Just bring me the food!’ Whatever Arash wants to cook he brings it to them. That is the traditional Arabic and Persian way. When we go to restaurants, we know the owners. We don’t order from the menu. We say, ‘Okay, we’re eight people, feed us.’”
Zamaan Cafe, 865 W. Eisenhower Pkwy. (The Colonnade). (734) 769–1113. Mon.–Sat. 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m. Closed Sun. zamaan-cafe.business.site
