Chef Omar Anani’s Moroccan restaurant in Detroit serves as his launching pad: expect two more ethnic … [+]
Chef Omar Anani, who is involved in the James Beard Foundation’s Taste of America program, started with a food truck in Detroit, which led to his opening Saffron De Twah, a Moroccan restaurant in 2019. Indeed his restaurant was also a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2020. But why is it called De Twah and not Detroit?
Anani says De-twah is the French pronunciation of Detroit, which was acquired in the Louisiana purchase and Morocco was a French colony well into the 1900’s. Hence its name signifies Detroit’s history as well as the French influence on the Moroccan culture.
Anani, who was raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., and fell in love with cooking at a young age, graduated from the Art Institute for Culinary School, which brought him to Detroit, where he has been ensconced since.
To create food that was accessible for the masses, he launched a food truck, first called Qais and then rebranded as Twisted Mitten. It was one of the first Halal food trucks in Detroit and was financed by a loan from his parents, which helped buy the truck.
Farm to Street Approach
Anani calls it “farm to street” food because he’d buy local ingredients, and when he ran out of food, he’d run to the local farmer’s market to replenish it and devise new dishes spontaneously. Cooking on the run indeed.
Twisted Mitten flourished, which led him to owning several food trucks including Fat Panda Kitchen, Grill Billies BBQ, Un Poco Loco and a hot dog cart, though currently only Twisted Mitten is operating.
Catering Produces 50% of Revenue
When his parents loaned him money to buy the building to store his various food trucks, he turned it into Saffron De Twah. It accommodates 15 people inside, but has a patio space which seats around 75 people. Its revenue stems 50% from catering, covering many corporate events, board meetings, and graduation parties, 35% from the restaurant itself and 20% from take-out and delivery.
A Palestinian chef in Detroit is building a following with his Moroccan eatery that is leading to two new spin-offs.
He describes its menu as “Moroccan cuisine with African influences” so it’s more African than it is Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. Some of its specialties include the Moroccan chicken sandwich and Moroccan fish sandwich.
Moroccan Chicken Sandwich
Its Moroccan chicken sandwich almost led to its downfall. He describes it as a “massive jumbo whole thigh, brined in peppers, cilantro and seasonings, and then breaded with panko to make it crispy, then seasoned with berbere directly out of the fryer.” Then the Rising Stars Academy, a school for autistic and disable adults, make the challah bun.
Originally it charged $8 for this massive sandwich, but when the Popeyes crispy chicken sandwich craze started, customers, seeing its cut-rate price, were coming in droves to order 10 to 20 at a time. When they ran out of chicken early one day, they decided to retire the chicken sandwich, before it ran the restaurant out of business. Six-hundred people showed up at its retirement party.
Its Moroccan fish sandwich, now made with basa fish, and smothered in green chermoula sauce, is another best-seller.
And Anani is a chef on the rise. He’s developing two new restaurants, both in its existing neighborhood One will specialize in Palestinian cuisine, which will celebrate Anani’s roots, and the other will reflect its neighborhood, and will have subsidized housing in apartments above the restaurant for its employees.
The Taste for America program involves about 20 events in 2024 and 2025 includes walk-around tastings with food as well as 10 pop-up dinners. The events attract mostly foodies, food enthusiasts and fans of the chef, says a spokesperson for the James Beard Foundation
At the Taste of America event in New York City that Anani participated in, he served warbat, a cheesy bread pudding, which is how his family made it in Jerusalem. It included a crispy flakiness of its dough, a creamy filling, and preserved lemon for tartness.
“To be able to show case my people’s Palestinian food creates the ability for people to find commonalities and new experiences that enhances a richness in life,” Anani concludes.
Detroit’s dining scene just got even more flavorful with the opening of Sunda New Asian, bringing modern Southeast Asian cuisine to the city.
Restaurant owner Billy Dec joins the show to share what guests can expect from the new hotspot, from bold dishes and incredible cocktails to an energetic atmosphere.
Watch the video above to see what’s cooking up at Sunda New Asian.
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Detroit Lions podcast includes Purple Insider Matthew Coller to talk about NFC North offseason moves.
Nolan and Richard are joined by Purple Insider Matthew Coller to talk about NFC North offseason moves.
By this point in the offseason, it’s well documented who the Detroit Lions have added, as well as who they’ve lost.
Former Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays was the prize of free agency. He’ll replace Graham Glasgow in the middle of Detroit’s offensive line. Clemson’s Blake Miller, selected 17th overall in April’s draft, is poised to quickly take over at the tackle spot opposite Penei Sewell, stepping in for Taylor Decker. The pass rush was overhauled across from Aidan Hutchinson, with Ahmed Hassanein and Tyler Lacy being the only other edge defenders still on the roster from last season.
Today, we’ll try to take our analysis a step further, identifying a few patterns within Detroit’s offseason approach and exploring what those acquisitions, retentions and departures mean for a Lions team looking to bounce back and reemerge as a title contender in 2026.
Detroit’s offense had its own share of issues throughout 2025. But what the defense produced down the stretch with the season on the line failed to meet reasonable expectations. Opponents averaged 28.1 points and 382.1 yards per game from Weeks 12-18, a stretch that resulted in four losses. Pinning all of Detroit’s defensive woes on one factor would be foolish (and you can’t ignore the role injuries played), but an inconsistent, at best, pass rush certainly didn’t help. The Lions owned the third-slowest time to pressure (2.86 seconds) in the NFL last season, according to Next Gen Stats.
Aside from the retooling opposite Hutchinson, the Lions also seemingly put an emphasis on acquiring interior defensive linemen who can get after the passer. Levi Onwuzurike is back after his contract tolled last season — Josh Paschal, a run-defending lineman who also had his contract tolled but was released in March, wasn’t afforded the same opportunity — and the Lions spent a couple of late-round draft picks on Texas Tech’s Skyler Gill-Howard and Tennessee’s Tyre West. Both players were drafted because of the flashes they’ve shown as pass rushers, particularly Gill-Howard, whose win rate in 2025 (14.4%) ranked 10th out of the 512 FBS interior defenders who rushed the passer on at least 100 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Copying the Super Bowl champions isn’t always wise — every team’s personnel has its own set of skills — but it’s striking how much Detroit’s defense differed from that of the Seattle Seahawks, who rode their defense on the way to winning the franchise’s second title. The Lions led the league in use of base defense (three linebackers) last season, deploying those packages for 657 plays, according to Next Gen Stats. The Seahawks were last, with 66 plays. It was the opposite for use of nickel defense (five defensive backs), with the Seahawks leading the league (815) and the Lions at 32nd (355). Of course, Seattle is unique, given head coach Mike Macdonald’s defensive system and nickelback Nick Emmanwori’s immediate impact as a rookie.
The Lions won’t overhaul their entire scheme in one offseason, but it’s difficult to see their moves in totality and not come away thinking they could lean more on nickel packages in 2026. Alex Anzalone, one of the league’s better linebackers against the pass, allowed the Lions to play base defense as much as they did, as he was comfortable in coverage. He’s now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions added a number of viable options to play nickelback next season, including veterans Christian Izien Jr. and Roger McCreary, as well as fifth-round rookie Keith Abney II (Arizona State).
Assuming the starting five, from left to right, winds up being Sewell, Christian Mahogany, Mays, Tate Ratledge and Miller, Detroit’s offensive line will have an average age of 25.2 next season. That’s down from 2025 (27.8) and 2024 (29.8). In no way does the influx of youth indicate surefire success, but the Lions would certainly be set up for sustained success if each of the five projected starters reach their ceilings. The offensive line could be even younger if 2025 fifth-rounder Miles Frazier, who is 11 months younger than Mahogany, wins the starting job at left guard. Juice Scruggs, another contender at left guard, is nine months older than Mahogany. Ben Bartch, 27, is the veteran option.
Whether Mays continues ascending at center will be key to Detroit’s success in 2026. He’s only started 20 games at the position over his four seasons in the NFL, and all of those starts have come within the last two years. He showed week-to-week growth in his 12 starts in 2025, enough for the Lions to commit $25 million ($14 million guaranteed) to him over the next three years. Mays surrendered 13 pressures last season and didn’t allow sack, according to PFF.
rsilva@detroitnews.com
@rich_silva18
How the PWHL unveiled Detroit’s team amid much fanfare
Chris Ilitch, Mary Sheffield, Jayna Hefford and Amy Scheer talk about the PWHL Detroit team on May 6, 2026.
Josh Sciba comes to the Detroit Professional Women’s Hockey League team with a tremendous recent accolade.
Named to coach the ninth franchise in the PWHL’s history on Thursday, May 28, Sciba joins the team fresh off having served as an assistant coach with the women’s team that won the gold medal at the 2026 Milano Olympics.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited for the opportunity to become the coach of PWHL Detroit and beyond grateful for the trust placed in me to help lead the organization from the beginning,” Sciba said in a statement. “This is home and especially meaningful for me and my entire family, knowing Detroit’s rich hockey history and identity firsthand and how much the women’s hockey community has been yearning for this moment.”
The Detroit PWHL team has taken shape over the past month: From being introduced on May 6 in a gala event at Little Caesars Arena (where the team will play starting late November/early December 2026) to naming Manon Rheaume general manager on May 15.
“Josh is a highly respected coach with a knowledge of the game and experience at all levels of women’s hockey that set him apart, and his passion for teaching and individual character are qualities I value in a leader,” Rhéaume said in a release “Hockeytown is in his blood, and this is an opportunity I know he is eager to embrace with an understanding of what it means to represent this city and be part of its legacy.”
Next on the agenda is shaping the roster itself, which will happen at the June 17 expansion draft at Detroit’s Fox Theatre.
Sciba, 41 and a native of Westland, has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the PWHL’s New York Sirens and brings more than 15 years of coaching experience to the role.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
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