Cambro’s Business of the Week: Superbaba

In British Columbia you can find a modern Middle Eastern restaurant that features made-from-scratch menu items like fresh pita bread and delicious sauces and dips. Superbaba, a play on the fact that Canadians say “super” a lot and “baba” is a familial or term of endearment in Chef and Co-Owner Abdallah El Chami’s family. He explains what makes customers come back to Superbaba again and again.

What inspired you to get into foodservice?

“There was always an emphasis on food in my family. I love the creativity and hospitality that goes into serving any kind of food whether it’s a special occasion dinner or a quick lunch at a food truck.”

What do you love about your business?

“I love that Superbaba is accessible and approachable to many people. We are able to serve fresh, high quality food at casual prices. Seeing people make Middle Eastern food part of their weekly meals makes me very happy to see.”

What’s the most interesting thing to happen to your business?

“The most interesting/coolest thing to happen to Superbaba was when we were chosen to be featured on the Food Network show called John’s Big Food Bucket List. Seeing Superbaba on TV was very cool!”

What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

“Trying to create a new way to present traditional Middle Eastern food that wasn’t like the typical falafel and Donair shops was our main challenge. We realized that fresh baked pita bread was one of the most important points, so we focused on creating pita that was superior to anything available to purchase locally. It took months of testing and even ongoing tweaks after we opened our first location, but eventually we figured it out. The wraps and fluffy pitas have become so popular we have a new challenge of scaling our pita bread production.”

What Cambro products help make your business work?

“We use so many Cambro products, it’s hard to name them all. With how busy we’ve become, 10L to 20L storage containers have been the most helpful in making large batches of our sauces, pickles and dips.

We can’t live without the Cambro dough bins, they help us store as much pita dough as possible and maintain its freshness. We’ve even built a custom sous-vide chamber using Cambro’s large food bins!”