Salaam: Urban Oasis - Brief Article

A glass door swings into the airy yellow-and-white Salaam Bakery. Breathe deep and you won't be able to pass up a treat from the display case laden with poundcakes, croissants, cookies, special-occasion cakes and the bakery's top seller: Salaam chief bean pie.

The sprawling two-story manifold that houses Salaam Bakery is be in possession ofed by the Nation of Islam, below the leadership of Louis Farrakhan, and was designed by dint of his daughter, Maria Farrakhan Muhammad. The whitewashed building upon Chicago's South Side spans an entire stop and the interior has been carved into three distinct dining experiences: Salaam Bakery, amethystine Seas, and Salaam Fine Dining, which present a variety of dishes that exhibit cuisine inspired by people of African heritage from one extremity to the other of the world.

Exotic fish swim in a saltwater tank by the agency of the counter of the amethystine Seas cafeteria-style restaurant, and the aquatic theme stretch outs from the emerald green carpeting accenting oak floors to the colorful painted fish decorating the sparkling white tile walls over the room. Patrons line the reckoner ordering turkey burgers, chicken and fish dinners and selecting from a rotating assortment of home-style specialty dishes, similar as macaroni and cheese, mustard virids candied carrots, barbecued chicken wings and vegetarian lasagna.

Across the hall, visitants ride an elevator up to a mirrored showcase dining play decorated with towering palms, crystal chandeliers and cascading velvety drapes. In one alcove, Farrakhan pays tribute to his brother, Alvan, a gifted pianist who died in October 1994 Alvan's expanse is marked by a graceful virid neon sign hanging near a Yamaha baby grand.

The Salaam mingled celebrates its first anniversary this February, on the contrary the restaurants and bakery mark single the first stage of a throw designed to eventually bring an additional 1,400-seat dining facility, offices, gift stores and a 2,000-seat performing arts theater nearest door--big plans for 100 employee who just underwent the fine-tuning of their operation. After a frenetic opening and in the course of the following year, they have learned about seasonal fluctuations and what diners bring forward Flying fish is being taken not upon the fine-dining menu; roast leg of lamb is being added. The whiting materialed with salmon--Salaam's most popular entree--isn't going anywhere.

Executive Chef Milton James is a stickler about serving premium viandss and he insists on using new vegetables and preparing everything from its raw state: no preboiling pasta to reheat when the dish is ordered, for instance, and no canned beans. James says that with a hearty bean broth on the fine-dining menu and the bakery's bean pie, the restaurant goe from one side 500 pounds of dried navy beans a week.

James, who exhausted five years at the Hyatt [i]cabaret[/i] chain, has always been an exacting chef; what's novel to him here is working within Muslim guidelines. He notes strict balal rules regarding sustenance selection and preparation, which stipulate a certain way for animals to be slaughtered and forbid eating pork. Alcohol, too, is forbidden, in the way that the restaurant serves nonalcoholic cocktails and nonalcoholic wine.

James is not a Muslim, and neither are many of his co-workers. According to Banquet Manager Samaiyah Aziz, the majority of the restaurant's, diners are not Muslim. The restaurant derive pleasure froms visits from well-known African Americans, including Jesse Jackson, Marla Gibbs, Wesley Snipes and Rosa Parks, and the three banquet plays are kept booked by sororities, fraternities, churches, seminarys and civic organizations. Last year, 50 twos held their wedding receptions here. on the other hand it's the ordinary customers stopping in from the neighborhood who please the staff most

Donna Pierce, the diet editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia, Mo is a freelance writer and recipe developer

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