The Morris Park Business Improvement District is continuing its push to rebuild and revitalize the East Bronx \u2014 and its latest success story is a cultural first for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\tInside a small kitchen tucked along Morris Park Avenue, chef and owner Nasim is preparing one of his first major catering orders at Alshaibani, believed to be the nation\u2019s first Yemeni seafood restaurant.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe have a whole plate of salmon that just got done\u2026 all this is gonna go out for one of the biggest catering order we have today\u2026\u201d he said, moving quickly as a rush approached.<\/p>\n
\tNasim, known as \u201cChef Nas,\u201d says his goal is to bring an authentic piece of Yemen to the Bronx. The restaurant\u2019s menu includes traditional dishes \u2014 including one he\u2019s especially proud of.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe one and only rashush bread,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly made by hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThough the restaurant has only been open for two months, Nasim says business has been steady \u2014 and growing.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing team, and I\u2019m very very proud to be apart of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tYemeni cooking, he explains, is rooted in tradition and fast, high-heat techniques that draw out rich flavors in each dish.<\/p>\n
\tWithout spending any money on advertising, Nasim credits much of the restaurant\u2019s early momentum to the Morris Park Business Improvement District, which has made it a priority to promote cultural businesses and small neighborhood spots.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cEvery time we do something about, you know, culture and again, highlighting the history, everybody\u2019s extremely interested,\u201d said Camelia Tepelus, the BID\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n
\tThe BID recently received $25 million in state funding and was recognized as an \u201cunsung hero\u201d for its work. Tepelus says the new money will help small cultural businesses upgrade their storefronts, making the corridor more inviting for residents and visitors.<\/p>\n
\tWith its bright, sea-themed design inside and out, Alshaibani is the type of business the BID hopes to highlight as the neighborhood evolves.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPeople just enjoy having a more elevated sort of, public streetscape and shared spaces,\u201d Tepelus said.<\/p>\n
\tTepelus adds that expanding that mission across the East Bronx remains a top priority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Morris Park Business Improvement District is continuing its push to rebuild and revitalize the East Bronx \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-51602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}