Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan hosted what he believes was the first Ramadan iftar at the Manoogian Mansion on Tuesday evening.
Dearborn bakeries bustle with late-night activity as Ramadan nears end
BY: DANA AFANA
SOURCE: Mlive
Dearborn bakeries extend their hours during Ramadan help Muslims across Metro Detroit prepare for daily fasts before sunrise.
The city’s ethnic commercial districts bustle with activity in the twilight during the month of Ramadan every year, and one long-running business has been doing it longer than most.
New Yasmeen Bakery on 13900 W Warren Ave. opened in 1985 and started operating 24 hours a day during the fasting period in 1987.
Ramadan is the holy month in Islam during which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, in addition to engaging in prayer, giving to charities and abstaining from sexual relations.
Fasters typically consume a meal before sunrise, known as “suhoor,” to sustain themselves for the 17-hour fast until “iftar,” the meal consumed after sunset.
Tarek Seblini, manager of New Yasmeen Bakery, has between six to eight employees serving customers on busy nights, who begin pouring in from 10 p.m. until sunrise, he said.
“People are coming in to have suhoor and we have a specialty for Ramadan,” Seblini said.
The bakery carries a variety of meat, spinach and cheese pies, flatbread’s topped with cheese, meat or thyme and oregano, various sandwiches, juices and more.
During Ramadan, Yasmeen Bakery provides special seasonal foods including specific types of breads, salep pudding and a variety of desserts.
“The beauty of it is it’s not only people who are fasting coming in at night,” Seblini said.
Some simply want to take part in culturally inspired late-night feasting, he said.
Other places that stay open late during Ramadan include: Golden Bakery, Taystee’s Burgers, Samhat Bakery, Masri Sweets, Shatila, Signature Cafe, Mangos Cafe, Sky Lounge and more.
Ramadan is expected to come to an end, and the holiday known as Eid is expected to begin, on Sunday.