Kitchen Takeover: Ramen bowls served in November at Little Fleet

Stephanie Shomin, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read

Nov. 4—TRAVERSE CITY — About a year ago, Daniel Mabie launched his pop-up Full Send Ramen at Providence Farm and CSA in Central Lake.

There, he introduced his soy-sauce based ramen and miso ramen — both inspired by his time living in Hawaii. Mabie and his wife Holly will make and serve ramen during their kitchen takeover at the Little Fleet this month.

"I'm really blessed by the people who have supported us so far," Mabie said.

Mabie said they will offer three types of bowls and handmade, freshly-steamed bao buns — made with local ingredients whenever possible.

"It's all local bone broth," Mabie said. "The first bowl is the Full Send Bowl. That is a Shoyu base with soy sauce, chicken and pork."

This dish, he said, "cooks for hours" and is made with a seasoning called "tare" and topped with an ajitama, a marinated egg.

The veggie bowl is vegetarian and vegan friendly, Mabie said. It is miso-based with dashi stock and vegetable toppings like cabbage, spinach and corn.

"I'll even have some gluten-free noodles," he said. "That one can be very friendly to anyone with dietary restrictions."

The third option is the pork bowl. Mabie said they make the pork stock by boiling pork bones for 18 hours and then add tonkatsu (pork cutlet), vegetables and a marinated egg.

"We want to focus on the ingredients and giving 110 percent," he said. "We hope and pray people have an enjoyable experience."

Little Fleet Owner Gary Jonas said the kitchen takeovers started on Mondays and Tuesdays last winter, when Happy's Taco Shop was closed.

"It was successful," Jonas said. "People want new food and food they're not used to getting all the time here. It's a limited-time kitchen. We have one month with a vendor, and then they're gone."

Jonas said they wanted to continue to use the kitchen now that the taco shop has left. He said Full Send Ramen is a "great first vendor" and he is excited about the rest of the lineup, which includes Milkweed and Wren.

Jonas added that they are always looking for people who want to "try something out" in their kitchen. Visit thelittlefleet.com/kitchen-takeover-2023 to apply.

Full Send Ramen will be serving from 4:30-10 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 3 p.m. and 3:30-10 p.m. Saturdays and 4:30-8 p.m. Sundays.

Find them at the Little Fleet through Nov. 27 and after that, Mabie said they will serve ramen out of a food trailer in Traverse City. They will offer rotating specials, depending on what is available from area farmers.

They plan to announce their food trailer location toward the end of November. For more information and updates, visit fullsendramen.com or their Facebook page.