Nada's Gourmet Deli

 A Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Food Map

By Janice Binkert | July 15, 2017

Nada Saco, owner of Nada’s Gourmet Deli in Traverse City, has come a long way, in every sense of the word. She spent her early years surrounded and nurtured by a large, close-knit circle of family and friends whose Chaldean Catholic roots ran deep in their small village in Northern Iraq. In the early 1980s, however, with increasing political turmoil closing in around them, Nada’s parents made the heartrending decision to leave their home country with Saco and her seven siblings to immigrate to Detroit, which is home to the largest Chaldean population outside of Iraq. It turned out to be a two-year odyssey, taking the family first to Turkey and Greece. Although she was only 11 at the time, Saco was already showing signs of the culinary path she would take later in life, making the keen observation that many of the foods in those countries were very similar to what she knew from Iraq.

COOKING FROM MEMORY
Those experiences added to the fascination she had felt as a young girl watching her mother and the women in her village prepare and present meals, but Saco said she did very little actual cooking until she got married to a fellow Chaldean and they started a family. 

“I would call my mother and ask, ‘Mom, how do you do this or that?’ And she would say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t measure anything.’ No recipes at all. Even for rice — when I asked her how to cook it, she would just say, “Put in rice, put in water, and then stand a spoon in it, and if the spoon falls over too easy, you put in too much water!’ So I am a self-taught cook. I think it just comes naturally — it’s in my blood,” said Saco. “My grandma was one of the best cooks in the whole village. I ate her food and my mother's food, and I guess I just absorbed it. I remembered how it tasted and what it looked like and what the texture was. I would cook from those memories, and somehow it would come out right. I realized that when I’m cooking, whatever the situation, if it comes out good or bad, I just love the process of doing it, of figuring it out. It makes me happy.”

PEACE AND FOOD
Saco’s father-in-law had a small gas station and grocery store in Kalkaska, and he wanted to introduce some Middle Eastern take-out food to the business, so in the Chaldean spirit of family helping family, she and her husband moved Up North to lend a hand. 

“I was writing down recipes and cooking, and basically running that part of the business, and honestly, it felt like it was my place, and I really liked that feeling,” said Nada. “I had never had any kind of business or shop before, but I realized that that was my dream and my passion. I wanted to open a Middle Eastern- and Mediterranean-themed restaurant.”

When Kalkaska turned out to be too small for her dreams, Saco turned toward Traverse City. “I kept saying to my husband, ‘We need to move there.’ I had always liked this area — it was so beautiful and peaceful, and it is a nice place to raise kids. I didn’t want too much, just a peaceful life and my restaurant.”

The couple eventually settled in Acme, and when the present location of Nada’s came up for sale in downtown Traverse City in 2015, Nada hesitated only briefly.

“We certainly hadn’t planned on having the liquor store, but actually, it was a good thing, because it was already established, and we figured maybe that could pay the bills while I got my business up and running, and people got to know me.” There was no room for a full restaurant, so Nada changed gears and designed a space on one side of the store for a deli/take-out operation during renovations to the newly acquired property. Nada’s Gourmet Deli opened in May 2016.

A FEAST FOR THE SENSES
Quality and authenticity were paramount for Saco from the start, in all areas of the operation. “I am very fussy about my ingredients when I shop for them — even when I order directly from a farmer. When they bring the vegetables or whatever, I feel them and smell them and look at them, and sometimes I say, ‘I’m sorry, but that is not the way I wanted it.’”

Saco started out with hummus and tabbaouleh, which she knew were already familiar to most customers, and then gradually added salads, appetizers, sandwiches and desserts. Her menu emphasizes healthy choices like grains, greens, pickled items, fresh vegetables and fruits, and her deli case is an astonishingly diverse and artfully displayed palette of colors and textures that first delights the eyes and then the palate. Sandwiches are made with bread freshly baked in house, all salads are available by the pound, and many vegetarian, gluten-free and vegan choices are available.

Nada’s is the quintessential family business. “My son, my nephew and my daughters all work here part-time when they’re not in school, and other relatives also help out sometimes,” she says. “Hopefully one of the kids will take over the business someday.”

While Nada is very happy with where she is in life personally and professionally right now, her odyssey might not be fully over yet. “I have big dreams, and I still can do something more later on if everything continues to go as well as it has so far. I believe that if something is meant to be, it will happen, no matter what.”

Nada’s Gourmet Deli is located inside Saco’s Liquor Store at 542 West Front St. in Traverse City. Take-out, dine-in, and catering. For more information, call (231) 947-6779 or visit them on Facebook or Instagram (@nadasgourmetdeli). Rating: $

LOVE AT FIRST BITE
A HELPFUL LEXICON
Don’t let the unfamiliar names of some of Nada’s menu items scare you away from trying them. Saco is happy to offer samples of anything unfamiliar to customers before they buy, which almost always leads them to the discovery of a new favorite food.

· Simthagrease (bulgur wheat, mushrooms, red onions, kale, cucumbers, parsley, lemon, olive oil, pomegranate vinaigrette)

· Kibenaya (bulgur wheat, tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, tomato paste, lemon, salt, olive oil)

· Jajeek (yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, lemon, salt)

· Bourek (egg roll skin with choice of three fillings: mixed veggies, chicken or beef, curry or other seasonings)

· Turshi (the ultimate condiment, with pickled cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, jalapeno, turnips, beets)

CHEERS!
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
The liquor store that shares space with the food side of the business is well stocked with high-quality wines, beers and spirits, and Nada and her staff are happy to suggest beverage pairings for anything on the deli’s menu. Saco herself favors a lighter wine such as pinot noir to accompany her foods but said that many types of beverages complement Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare.