moveable feast

Bintimani Comes to Providence

By / Photography By | March 08, 2022
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Menu items from Bintimani are rooted in the food traditions of Sierra Leone.

West African Cooking and Community Collaboration Will Simmer Together on Westminster Street

Vibrant and flavorful. This is what comes to mind when thinking of Bintimani, an eatery rooted in the traditions of Sierra Leone and currently relocating to Providence from Boston.

Set to open in late spring, downtown at 320 Westminster St., Bintimani will feature an expanded menu of what it offered for 15 years in Roxbury, where the kitchen was the size of a home kitchen and everything was made by the family matriarch, affectionately known to friends and family as “Auntie” Baindu Josiah-Faeduwor, who operated the restaurant with her husband, Sahr.

The reason for leaving Boston is bittersweet. The block of buildings housing the restaurant was purchased by a developer and Bintimani, along with other tenants, was forced out to make way for a new housing development. Despite many appeals and public opposition to what was seen as gentrification, the family was unable to stave off eviction, and the restaurant closed in the spring of 2020.

Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor, son of Sahr and stepson to Auntie Baindu, has lived in Providence for nearly a decade, and saw an opportunity to reopen the restaurant in the city he calls home. Aiyah, 30, arrived in Providence as a college student and, now holding a dual master’s degree in business and city planning from MIT, has become a community advocate, known for cofounding the Millennial RI network, among other endeavors. For the past 18 months, he has been working hard not only to re-establish Bintimani, but to expand the eatery into a community space.

Still, the process, which started with an eviction during a pandemic, has not been without setbacks.

“I just wasn’t anticipating so many challenges to get this going,” Aiyah said, noting there has been lots of red tape—a fact that already has the community advocate and city planner considering how he can change that from a policy perspective.

Still, Bintimani has received lots of grassroots aid, which Aiyah is grateful for and said highlights the community-oriented nature of Providence, a reminder of why he loves the city and is invested in its future. Bintimani has received support from Cornish Associates, which owns the building, as well as Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Enhanced Capital and Papitto Foundation, which offered microloans.

Aiyah’s vision for Bintimani is of a community space that can help support and encourage other cooks who can’t afford to go it on their own, especially chefs of color whose cultures and cuisines are underrepresented.

“In the process of looking out for my family and trying to make this work, we couldn’t ignore that there are other people who are struggling, too,” Aiyah said. “I felt compelled to allow our space to be another place where people can get support.”

He cited Hope & Main in Warren as an example and noted the organization has been among those offering support as Bintimani prepares to open. The sort of assistance he hopes to offer ranges from letting those in need access a certified kitchen to helping people draft business plans and navigate city procedures.

“We’re really trying to collaborate at a level that’s maybe not typical of a business,” he said.

The family recently gathered at Hope & Main, which lent space while the Bintimani kitchen was under construction. Auntie Baindu had made several dishes ahead of time, leading one of her stepdaughters to remark she must have been cooking for two days as there was enough to feed a dozen people lunch, with ample remaining for all to leave with leftovers.

Among the foods Auntie Baindu had prepared— many of which will be staple dishes on the Bintimani menu—was Crain Crain, a dish of chicken, smoked fish, beef and jute leaf, all moistened in palm oil and well-seasoned. There was also chicken and beef stew, flavored with onion, red and green peppers and tomato paste, which she said is what gives the sauce its red-orange color. And then there was the West African staple named cassava leaf, a beef and chicken dish with a green sauce that has the look of spinach but with an earthier taste. Two kinds of rice were amply available: white rice and then seasoned jollof, which was red-brown and mixed with diced carrots, peppers and onions plus green peas.

“If you eat cassava leaf, you don’t need to eat for another three hours,” said Sahr, who instructed me to fill a bowl with warm jollof rice and scoop cassava leaf on top.

To round out all these flavors with a touch of sweetness was a plantain salad mixed with sweet potatoes and cassava root, also known as yucca, which in West Africa comes from a katoba plant. These root vegetables were coated in a sticky and flavorful glaze. Finally, there was Bottom Belleh, which has the shape of an empanada and the texture of a spring roll, and was stuffed with minced beef, all folded and fried by Auntie Baindu, who sometimes fills them with fish or chicken as well.

“If you’ve never been to Sierra Leone or West Africa, it’s different,” said Sahr, who noted Providence is a multicultural city and hopes the food will be welcomed and appreciated. “I expect big things to happen once we get going.”

Sahr, known as Josiah among friends and family, is very much the storyteller. As everyone ate, he talked about the jute leaf and all the ways the plant is used in Sierra Leone, which includes weaving the stalk into rugs and bags.

Auntie Baindu is quieter and more reserved, answering questions about each dish and sharing photos from a recent visit to Sierra Leone for her daughter’s wedding. When she first arrived in the United States, Auntie Baindu joined her brother in Michigan, which is where she began sharing West African cuisine, including making fresh ginger beer, which people loved. In 2006, she and Sahr met in Boston and, just a few years later, opened Bintimani in Roxbury.

“We would not be able to be Bintimani had it not been for her,” Aiyah said. “This is Auntie Baindu’s kitchen.” Still, he wants both her and his father to plan for retirement.

“There hasn’t been a day since I’ve been born that I haven’t known my dad to be working,” he added. “I want my parents to be able to take themselves on vacation and know what it’s like.”

Satta, 21, the younger of the two sisters by seven years, has an art background and is looking forward to filling the space with an Afrofuturism aesthetic.

“I want the art to show something,” she said, and for “young kids to come in and not only learn but say ‘This is new.’” She also hopes to eventually host events there, including nights of spoken word and music, which is in alignment with her brother’s vision of featuring guest chefs and hosting a mini market once a week.

As the business plan evolves, and the space comes to life, one detail remains firm: “We want the community to be a part of making Bintimani,” Aiyah said.

Follow @bintimanipvd for updates on the official opening. Once open, find Bintimani at 320 Westminster St., Providence. Bintimani.com

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