Ayiti Spaghetti, a Detroit pop-up, takes No. 5 on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list for proudly bringing authentic Haitian dishes to a market ripe for more Caribbean cuisine.
The finishing touch on each plate created by Franchesca Lamarre is a toothpick flying the Haitian flag. As if the dishes themselves aren’t indication enough, the garnish reaffirms the Haitian American chef’s cultural pride.
Lamarre’s signature, the Haitian spaghetti that inspired the pop-up’s name, is her interpretation of a classic. Unlike an Italian spaghetti dinner, Haitian spaghetti is a traditional breakfast food made with a sweet tomato base and hot dog rounds. Lamarre’s rendition is sweet and spicy in a peach jerk, tomato sauce laden with hunks of the stone fruit. It’s topped with an epis chimichurri, a verdant slurry of bell peppers, scotch bonnets, garlic, green onions, cilantro, pikliz — a spicy pickled slaw — and various herbs. Diners can opt for the addition of a jammy egg, slices of turkey sausage or cotija cheese.
With little Haitian representation in Detroit, and in the wake of Donald Trump’s disparaging and baseless accusations about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs, Ayiti Spaghetti’s mere existence is like an act of defiance.
Lamarre took to places like Two Birds in Detroit’s West Village, Foxglove in the North End and La Ventana near Eastern Market to showcase the true beauty of Haitian food.
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Ayiti Spaghetti menu highlight
Haitian spaghetti and a moist rum cake flavored with pineapple.
Ayiti Spaghetti address
Follow @ayitispaghetti on Instagram to keep up with Lamarre’s latest pop-up stops.
Save the Date: On Thursday, Aug. 7, Ayiti Spaghetti, the Detroit Free Press and Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers will host a Top 10 Takeover dinner. Stay tuned for ticket information at Freep.com.
For a chance to win five $100 gift cards to dine at restaurants on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list, visit chevydetroit.com/community/giveaways/roy25.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: No. 5: Haitian pop-up eatery Ayiti Spaghetti arose in Detroit as an act of defiance
Reporting by Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
