The World Comes To Packard And Platt

Strip malls are no one's idea of good urban planning, catering more to in-and-out car culture than walkable neighborhoods. Still, there's something a little different about the strip malls along the intersection of  Packard and Platt Road in Ann Arbor.

At first glance they seem like any of the hundreds of shopping plazas that dot busy roads: small cracked parking lots, faded signage, cars whizzing past at 40 miles-an-hour. Then you notice the signs aren't all in English and the goods they're offering aren't quite in sync with the dry cleaner-convenience store-cell phone dealer standard.

For those who turn into the parking lot  the habitual blur of nondescript buildings focuses into a surprising mix of ethnic restaurants, grocers, bakeries and delis. And it only takes one visit to these internationally-themed mom and pop stores to get hooked. Soon, it becomes a destination.

Lisa Leutheuser, local food guru and the brains behind the Kitchen Chick blog regularly cooks authentic Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern recipes that call for hard-to-find ingredients.

"All the stores have something unusual that is unique to the cuisine that you can't find elsewhere," Leutheuser says. "When I'm stocking up, I make my Packard area shopping list."

Let's face it, most epicurean Ann Arborites grocery shop at Trader Joe's, Morgan and York, or the organic shrine known as Whole Foods Market -- only a mile away. But why pay top dollar for a limited selection of exotic spices when you can pick from dozens at one third the price?

"If you're cooking something Middle Eastern or Indian, you're definitely going to want to stop in," Leutheuser advises. "More than likely, they'll have what you need…[and] you're not going to find as much in big grocery stores. Like fresh curry leaves at Bombay Grocers, or sour plum or almonds still in their skins at Sunshine Fruit Market."

While these businesses attract all-American families and students looking for cheap goods or hoping to find that crazy chutney they drooled over at an Indian restaurant, Middle Eastern, Arab, Indian, Eastern European and Asian communities also flock to these locally owned shops.

Various languages and dialects steadily punctuate the busy business hours. A Euro Market shop keeper wraps up meat for a customer while discussing the weather in Russian, and, a block away, Arabic chatter steadily hums around the cramped aisles and front check-out area at Aladdin's Market. 

But how did this confluence of diversity come about? While some businesses cite pure coincidence, Aladdin's Market owner, Akram Rashid, says his store was probably the magnet that attracted more recent Middle Eastern businesses like Sunshine Fruit Market and Zeidan Bakery & Café.

"The first owners started in here 15 years ago with a small section selling Middle Eastern food and Halal meat – by chance choosing this location on Packard," Rashid says. "Then we started targeting other communities and other people from different countries, which increased the sales, and that encouraged other people to start businesses in this area."

Or maybe it's a combination of reasonable commercial rents and nearby customers, says Jean Carlberg, former longtime Ann Arbor city councilwoman in that ward.

"I notice a lot of families that come and shop at the grocery stores and pick up things," says Carlberg. "They probably have clientele who are faithful since this is where they can get ingredients for food."

More interestingly, several of the shop owners mention how they attract customers from all over the county, making this unlikely intersection a destination for out-of-town visitors. Which begs the question, why haven't Ann Arbor's leaders given more attention to the area, helping to grow its identity around this assembly of ethnic businesses? Maybe some public art, greater focus on walkability, and partnerships with local landlords could actually convince busy commuters to slow down and smell the curry?

Makkara Sushi & Noodle Co.
3014 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Like many lured by the maize and blue, owner Alex Ju moved to Ann Arbor in 1996 when his wife began her PhD at the University of Michigan. Opening a sushi joint made sense. "At the time, there were not many sushi restaurants in Ann Arbor, and I figured there was a niche there," says Ju.

And there was. Following a successful run on Washtenaw Avenue, Makkara moved to its current Packard location about 2 ½ years ago. And no trail of tempura crumbs was necessary to make patrons follow.

Students and families come back again and again to munch on sushi rolls, noodles and teriyaki dishes. (Leutheuser's husband is especially fond of the inarizushi) The restaurant's crisp, welcoming ambiance featuring dark red walls and clean black tables and chairs seals the deal.  

Makkara also has a small selection of ingredients for sushi experimentation at home. Rather than tempt fate with Uncle Albert's catch-of-the-day, pick up a pound of specially prepared sushi fish at the counter.

Bombay Grocers
3022 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Every inch of its towering white shelves is packed with Indian and Pakistani bulk foods and spices. Don't shop hungry: the aroma of cardamom, cinnamon and cumin fills the two tiny isles, triggering visions of steaming curry and masala dishes. And it's no wonder. Bombay Grocers has a wall of spices spanning half the store's length.

Visitors also peruse the floor-to-ceiling collection of Bollywood films jammed in between the spices and glass dessert case. Quite convenient for satisfying sweet tooth and Hindi foreign film cravings in one go.

But you'd better hurry! After over a decade at its current location, co-owner Mukesh Patel says Bombay Grocers will be moving down the street to a larger store in September 2009.

Euro Market
3108 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Since 2004, Eastern European babushkas and families have purchased goods imported from the old country here rather than brave the long aisles of Kroger or Meijer. Its white walls and shiny floors echo the clean glare of American chain grocers, but you're out of luck if you want Heinz. Only Russian, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian and German food is available here.

Some shoppers may need a tour guide to decipher labels of various canned and dry goods, but those familiar with Soviet block languages should do fine. Be sure to ogle the Eastern European meats in the front counter deli chest – Jewish salami, anyone?

If you're yearning for that special bottle of wine from back home or your semester abroad, say something – the owners have a history of stocking requested merchandise.

Zeidan Bakery & Café
3182 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Owned by Frank Zeidan, this little bakery's mix of Middle Eastern munchies have seduced locals' senses with sweet and savory aromas (inducing flatbread hunger pangs) for three years straight. In close proximity to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Zeidan's location completes this business's master plan.

"It's close to everybody," Zeidan's cousin, supervisor Sam Ali, says. "It's in the middle of the neighborhood and close to a main street, Packard."

Local carnivores and vegetarians will relish a dish both familiar and exotic with a bite of manaqeesh, a pizza-like flatbread. Ali recommends the zatar (thyme, olive oil and sesame) or meat (ground beef, tomato, onion and green pepper) manaqeesh. Local visitors are also addicted to the cream cheese-filled sesame bread and homemade falafel sandwich (some say it tops Jerusalem Garden's sandwich. Oh, snap!).

Special occasions sometimes cause slight shifts in selection. So go sample limited time items and then brag at the weekly dinner party.

Sunshine Fruit Market
3184 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Walking in, customers get an electric jolt from the lime-green walls and citrus flowing from the wooden crates of fruits around the store. Familiar and curiously foreign produce have been its mainstays since opening in 2005.

"It has all the standard things you'd expect to get," Leutheuser says. "And if you're looking for unusual gourds or sour plums – which are round and the size of a grape – or fresh almonds still in the skin, where else are you going to get that stuff?"

Add chayote, Chinese eggplants, papayas and pumelos to your gourmand web research. Or just ask the friendly staff.

The selection changes ever-so-slightly from one week to the next, so expect more eclectic yet inexpensive veggie goodness.

"People come here because the taste and flavor of our produce is better than Meijer or Kroger," says manager Mahabad Ahmed. "We get compliments about that from customers all the time."

Sure, sometimes Sunshine has produce that is over or under-ripe, but what store (chain or otherwise) doesn't?

Aladdin's Market
3188 Packard Street, Ann Arbor

Spanning two store fronts, Aladdin's Market regularly attracts customers who wind through the maze of aisles stacked with myriad food stuffs. After 15 years, Aladdin's prides itself as an "international market" says Rashid, owner for the past 11 years.  

"We have a good number of Middle Eastern people from Jordan, Syria and Iraq, but our specialty goes beyond that. We bring in products and goods for people from Turkey, Iran and North Africa," says Rashid. "It's an international market because we have lots of Eastern European products, too."

Squeeze past shoppers to get your hands on a half a dozen varieties of fig spread or pita bread. Wander to the back of the store and pick up Halal meat from the butcher section, or stop at the front deli counter chock full of ready-made Middle Eastern snacks.

At your own risk of buying the whole lot, peer through the deli counter chest at trays of hummous, fattoush salad, tabouli, baba ghanoush, golden-brown samosas and spinach feta pies, and flaky, glistening baklava.