GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — A small, brick building was full of buzz and delicious smells on Friday night as the crew from Mizizi by Street Chef Shaw prepared for its first customers. "Fifteen minutes!" someone yelled from the back of the house as executive chef Kirel Shaw, better known as Street Chef Shaw, went over some last-minute details to make sure everything was perfect.
At 4 p.m., it was go time. The "OPEN" sign in the window turned on for the first time, the door was unlocked, and a group of die-hard fans filed in to be Mizizi's first customers. It's a moment that Shaw has been working hard for.
"This space is our branch-off takeout location. We are really trying to dig into our roots and where we came from as a team, and as individuals, and as a culture. We're studying Afro-American cuisine and native African cuisine and fusing it with different types of other cultures and cuisines. As of right now, we're focusing on Latin American street food and East African street food," Shaw said.
"It means a lot for me to show a lot of West Michigan and Grand Rapids the story of African American culture and native African culture and bringing it to the forefront. Hopefully it inspires some other chefs to explore their own cuisines and show the rest of West Michigan what we have to offer."
Shaw says one of the most common questions he gets is how spicy the food is.
"It's definitely more flavorful than spicy. I have four-year-old daughters that eat it all day, every day and I have a six-year-old son that eats it all day, every day. So there's nothing really to be scared about. It might be a little exotic, but it's something new."
Shaw was born in Detroit, but his family moved to West Michigan when he was around two years old. He says opening up a restaurant in the Creston Neighborhood means a lot because it's close to home.
"I grew up over in the Plainfield area and graduated from Northview, so it's good to come home and put the roots down here," he said.
"We just want to say thank you for all the support over the past four years to everybody who's come out and supported our food truck. We hope to see you guys here at the takeout spot, the brick and mortar Mizizi. We wouldn't be able to be here without you guys."
Regular hours will be from Tuesday to Thursday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. The address is 1539 Plainfield Avenue NE.
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