Zoë Bakes Deep Dive: Hanukkah Latkes
A Q&A with David Fhima, restaurateur and executive chef for the Timberwolves!
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I met David decades ago when I was asked by Mpls.St.Paul magazine to choose my favorite crème brûlée in the Twin Cities. A group of us set out to eat every version of the dessert that appeared on restaurant menus. It was the 1990s, so that was pretty much every menu. Ha.
David’s Minneapolis restaurant, Fhima’s, was the last on our journey, which was not an advantage because we were groaning from all the custard we’d eaten. We sat down and out from the kitchen came David with crème brûlée in one hand and a glowing orange salamander in the other. As he caramelized the top, filling the room with the smell of sugar, he told stories. I was mesmerized.
That is David. He is a chef, a storyteller, and the ultimate creator of an experience. His crème brûlée won the top spot on the list, not only for the show he gave, but because it had the perfect texture and the sugar was perfectly caramelized. Now that I am writing this, I regret not getting that recipe for the newsletter, but his Grandma Fhima’s Salmon recipe below is incredible and we’ll get him back to share the creme brûlée another time. Here are my crème brûlée recipes until then:
David has such a wonderful and rich story of how he came to live in Minneapolis and his journey to becoming a chef/restaurateur. I was thrilled to be invited into his kitchen, where he shared his twist on one of my favorite Hanukkah recipes, sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). The episode we did together should have been a full hour because his stories are endlessly fascinating and his food delicious.
Hanukkah Latkes
Be sure to tune in to this episode with David, the last in season 3 of Zoë Bakes. It airs this Sunday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Magnolia Network and you can stream it on (HBO) Max and discovery+. Don’t forget to check out the recipes from the episode, too!
If you’re looking for more donut recipes for Hanukkah, I have three more of them, including the ones I made on Holiday Party with Andrew & Zoë: