After moving from Syria to Washington, DC, and then on to South Dakota, Sanaa Abourezk struggled to adapt her eating habits to the meat-based dishes most popular in Sioux Falls. So she opened her own vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant, Sanaa’s Gourmet Mediterranean, which has become a staple of Sioux Falls even while breaking with local culinary traditions.
Abourezk now also has a new cookbook, “The Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook,” which combines her love for tasty food with her background as a nutritionist and agriculturalist. Her recipes focus on healthy, plant-based twists on comfortable Mediterranean staples. Sanaa’s Gourmet Mediterranean has also caught national attention, with the New York Times highlighting Abourezk as part of Sioux Falls’ rising culinary scene.
From Sioux Falls to the Food Network
Abourezk’s restaurant, Sanaa’s, boasts a wide selection of vegetarian, gluten free, Mediterranean, and vegan food. Abourezk cooks at the restaurant, which has gained fame as one of Food and Wine’s best vegan restaurants. She has also written four cookbooks and publishes healthy recipes regularly on her blog.
Beyond her daily duties as a writer and restauranteur, Abourezk has also appeared on the Food Network. She took on Bobby Flay on his show, “Beat Bobby Flay” in 2016. Although her loss came down to “technical, small things,” Abourezk is proud to “walk away knowing [she] accomplished that.”
An outpouring of support came from Abourezk’s community and beyond despite the loss. As one friend noted, “It’s important to celebrate a female chef, a great place to work, and a great person.”
Sanaa Abourezk Brings Science to the Kitchen
Abourezk has a long history with food beyond owning her own restaurant. Her father was a farmer in Syria and her mother was an outstanding cook, she reveals. Her education also focused on food: she has a degree in Agricultural Engineering as well as a Master’s in Food and Nutrition.
She came to the US to get a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering. There, Abourezk met her husband, Jim Abourezk, the first Arab-American ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. The first place they lived in South Dakota, Rapid City, made her feel isolated. “There was nobody around me, I mean nobody but coyotes,” she recalls. Her husband suggested she study cooking.
Although her parents had discouraged her from learning to cook, Abourezk sees her father as her greatest mentor. “He taught me and my siblings to do what you like, consequently to give it our best and never give up,” she says. After the Abourezks moved to Sioux Falls, she opened Sanaa’s in 2003 with a plant-based menu. As Abourezk boasts, “You can give me any recipe you like and I can make it into a very tasty, healthy recipe with nothing artificial.”
Sanaa Abourezk Serves a Healthy, Green Community
Abourezk’s restaurant is also Sioux Falls’ first green restaurant. The takeout containers are made of corn husks and degrade quickly, and everything that is recyclable is recycled. The establishment uses energy-efficient bulbs and makes everything from scratch.
Sanaa’s also has an annual dinner where 100% of the profits go to the non-profit Feeding South Dakota. Abourezk also gives free cooking lessons “to teach people how to eat and cook healthy.”
Sanaa’s, Sioux Falls, SD
Abourezk’s cookbooks available on Amazon, along with some recipes on the same page. Her restaurant’s webpage also includes a variety of recipes and more information on Abourezk herself.
