Minneapolis' first fine dining Somali restaurant opens

New restaurant in Minneapolis is a first of its kind and it's something the owner says it's been missing from the city for a very long time. She knew her stuff by to check it out, learning why this is so special, why it was so very needed in the community. Good morning. Hey, good morning guys. Yeah, something that he's been working on for quite a while now. So exciting that it's finally opened. Martia is in Minneapolis had opened just this month in the Lindale area. So the owner also owns Afro Deli, but he says this restaurant, it's a little different and it's a milestone. Martia is the first and only fine. Marci means in Somali. Guests. When you walk through the doors of Martia in Minneapolis, you're not just a customer, but now a friend of owner Abdirahman Kahin. Not only just a restaurant, but it's a guest house where you can invite your friends. Kahin started working on the concept of Martia years before he even found the building because he wanted to fill a void he saw in the community. Can you talk about what your vision was for Martia when you opened this restaurant? We were missing. A sit-down restaurant that carers or the food is from Somalia, East Africa, Djibouti, Tobias. We have a huge, large East African community in the 20 cities and we did not have any sit-down or upscale or if I might say fine dining in the 20 cities. With Martia now up and running, Kahin says it's now the first fine dining Somali restaurant in the Twin Cities. Similar to Kahin's other restaurant, the popular Afro Deli, that's also at the state fair, Martia is serving traditional Somali foods and fusion foods inspired by those flavors. Coming into this space, as you see, it's a very inviting space. And then food will complete. That experience includes an event space for community events and gatherings. A lot of times we don't find space that can Accommodate everybody. Accommodate, especially the way you want things. Are there any local chefs or local restaurants that kind of inspired you? Yeah, a lot of chefs in the Tunis cities are doing the same thing. They're doing from other cultures like the Hmong culture, the Vietnamese culture, the Chinese culture, the native culture. So it was about time to have an East African slash Somali dining space. dining experience to join the new scene of Minnesota food. Okay, he says his head chef was trained in michelin star kitchens kind of all over the country. And so he brings a ton of industry experience to the restaurant. Martia is near the intersection of Nicola and West Lake Street. So kind of again in that Lindale area there, but exciting for him. And they were trying to get this open while also, you know, after deli's at the state fair. So it was busy. He finally got it open. They got their hands full going on there. Yeah, good stuff. Thank you. Thank you.