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By Nick Glavan  Over the past 18 months, I have really leaned into being more of a foodie. In the early days, I was cleaning out my pantry to find new recipes to try to spice up a full week of being shuttered inside. I was binge watching Top Chef and Chopped on a nightly basis, getting inspiration for my masked and socially distant bi-weekly trip to the grocery store to restock. I read cookbooks and subscribed to magazines to learn more about foods I’ve never cooked or tasted before. But one of my favorite discoveries has been the amazing, diverse take-out experience offered by Akron’s NoHi Pop-Up. NoHi, or for out-of-towners, North Hill, Pop-Up opened its doors in the late summer of 2020. Supported by the North Akron Community Development Corporation, the pop-up restaurant provides early-stage culinary entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their unique food artistry in preparation for a weekend to showcase their dishes to the public. The kitchen acts as an incubator, assisting Culinary Art Entrepreneurs (CAEs) with menu creation, food safety and kitchen hazard training, promotion, and acting as kitchen support for the pop-up weekend.  Source: @nohipopup One of my favorite things about NoHi Pop-Up is that they select cuisines from such a wide variety of heritages. West Indian spicy salmon stew one week, soul food fried turkey ribs and gravy the next, maybe a Thai Moo Yang pork shoulder the week after. Heading into this weekend, I’m deciding what items to order from Hujra, and Afghan restaurant offering lamb, beef, chicken, fish, and vegetarian dishes, each with new combinations of ingredients and flavors I’ve never tried before. Every week that I grab my take-out, I also learn a bit about the food and cultural identity of an Akron-based chef entrepreneur, expanding my own foodie worldview. I also love that NoHi prioritizes minority and women CAEs, who often have a harder time raising the capital needed to launch a full-time food business. Many weeks they feature immigrant chefs who are sharing the flavors of their home country, which no other area restaurants are offering. Over the past months, NoHi’s success has continued to expand. While they still have rotating chefs that create new menus every weekend, they opened the NoHi café with daily hours for patrons to try unique tea and coffee treats. They even host traditional Ethiopian Tea ceremonies put on Bereka Coffee for a full immersive cultural experience; the next one is on September 27. They’ve also started hosting weekly, repeating pop-up chefs who’ve established a fan base by previously serving as the weekend spotlight. So now, every Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday, patrons can support their favorite small business CAEs as well as learning about new cuisines each weekend.  Source: @nohipopup I can’t recommend enough trying a new dish from the NoHi Pop-Up. Week after week, I am delighted to taste a recipe I’ve usually never heard of before, and the quality is always tops. You can place your take-out order at northakroncdc.com/nohi . Weekend menus usually begin accepting advanced orders the Wednesday before. And believe me, because these offerings are so unique, you had better order early or your top pick may already be sold out! But no fear, there’s always something great to try on the menu. I suggest following them on Facebook and Instagram so that you don’t miss the upcoming menus, plus you’ll see posts about the background about each week’s culinary artist. There’s no better or tastier way to support diverse, small business entrepreneurs in our local ecosystem.
NoHi Pop-Up is located at 778 North Main St in Akron. Orders can be placed online at https://northakroncdc.org/nohi/ or by calling 2334-231-1645 during business hours.
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