The arrival of spring brings new beginnings. For millions in the northern hemisphere, including Iranians, it coincides with a new year. Nowruz, meaning “new day” in Farsi, is on Monday, March 20. But as Iranians gather for the traditional Nowruz meal of sabzi polo ba mahi — herbed rice and fish — celebrating may not be on the table as the unrest in Iran enters its sixth month.
Decades-long brewing tensions between the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran hit a boiling point when a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, died on Sept. 16, 2022 in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” for allegedly wearing an improper headscarf. What began as protesters pouring into the streets evolved into an uprising led by women and girls demanding freedom and an end to the current regime.
Iranians in the diaspora have been amplifying the voices of the protesters through a variety of ways, including solidarity protests, posts on social media, and billboard campaigns, to name a few.
In the Los Angeles region, home to the largest community of Iranians outside of Iran, restaurants have also been feeding the movement.
For Saghar Fanisalek, chef and owner of Taste of Tehran — a cozy bustling Persian restaurant in what's known as Tehrangeles (Westwood) — food has been serving as a conversation starter with her non-Iranian customers.
“After this revolution, they actually come to me personally and say, ‘We love you, we love your food, we love Persian food, what’s going on in Iran?’ This has a big impact. All of us have an obligation to be, somehow, the voice of Iranians. I am the voice of Iranians, and my food is the voice of the culture of Iran,” said Fanisalek, who opened the eatery in 2013.
From organizing and attending protests to showing support via social media, Fanisalek has been fueling the movement to the point that people call the restaurant asking when and where the next protest will be held.
“As someone who introduces my food, I have to introduce my culture. I have to introduce what’s going on in my country. And I have to tell them what I’m feeling about that,” said Fanisalek.
In the San Fernando Valley, many of Sadaf Restaurant's non-Iranian customers have been pledging their support and asking about the situation in Iran as well.
“We try to continue to raise awareness for others. We try to educate those who don’t know about it — like non-Iranians — if they’re not understanding what it’s about,” said Sadaf Nezhad, owner of Sadaf Restaurant in Encino and Thousand Oaks.
Despite the Islamic Republic’s tactics to silence protesters — such as shutting down the country’s internet, shooting and killing hundreds of protesters, and imprisoning thousands — the uprising has continued. But so have feelings of heartache and helplessness felt by those outside of Iran. Restaurants serve as a place of healing and community, especially during protest days.
“It’s therapeutic to come and sit with like-minded individuals from your same background, feeling the same pain, to just sit together and even just have tea, or some rice, or a full meal, some dessert, anything, just to say, 'ham dardeem', I get you. But, at this moment, let’s enjoy this together,” said Nezhad.
Popular dishes to try
In addition to ham dardeem, an understanding of sharing the same pain in Farsi, Nezhad has noticed a camaraderie between her customers as they walk in wearing red, white, and green t-shirts after a protest. There’s a different connection among customers as they pat each other on the back and share pictures.
Even though Nezhad was born and raised in Southern California, she feels at home whenever setting foot on Iranian soil during summer trips. Nezhad grew up in the hustle and bustle of her father’s restaurant, Darya Restaurant, a traditional Persian restaurant in Santa Monica and Orange County. She worked there for years, graduated with her master’s in business administration, and opened Sadaf Restaurant in 2011 with the help of her dad and uncle. Sadaf Restaurant is known for a blend of traditional and modern with its juicy chicken kabob wraps and fries in a dining room of refurbished wood arches complemented by Persian calligraphy.
Fanisalek was also inspired by her father as she watched him cook with the vegetables from the back yard. In 2000, she moved to the United States with only $200. After working in the hospitality industry for more than a decade and graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, she opened Taste of Tehran. The restaurant has been attracting big appetites and bigger crowds with Fanisalek's signature of adding a modern approach to Persian cuisine with dishes like the lentil quinoa salad. Although she acknowledged neither chef school nor opening a restaurant would be possible if she lived in Iran, there were still challenges in the States.
“I carry the title of being LGBTQ which is harder for Iranians. It doesn’t matter if you're in Iran or here. It’s still somehow hard in the community to come up as an LGBTQ and open a business,” said Fanisalek, who’s been featured on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Top Chef, and in the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. list for four consecutive years.
Taste of Tehran has become a hub where protesters congregate for hours as the aroma of charbroiled beef koobideh kabob rises as the ground beef grills on an open flame.
“I never see that unity and kindness of Iranians together. It was the only time I’ve seen people sharing a table with each other and sharing a story with each other,” said Fanisalek.
Providing the community with solace during hard times isn’t new for Attari Sandwich Shop, a sanctuary and the site of “Persian Square” in Tehrangeles.
“When the protest ends, it’s very busy. Some people are sad, some are crying, but once they sit, have tea, eat, talk about what’s going on, they calm down,” said Parvin Sadaghiani, chef and owner of the restaurant.
Before opening the eatery, she managed a convenience store and coffee shop on the same site as her current eatery. It was owned by Afsar Attr, an Iranian woman who wanted to provide the newly immigrated community with comfort.
“All the work Afsar did was for the Iranians who had recently moved from Iran. They were all worried and had problems. Afsar wanted them to have Iranian things in the store for them to be reminded of Iran,” said Sadaghiani.
The two women later opened Attari Sandwich Shop with the purpose of providing students, especially Iranian UCLA students, with healthy, nourishing food. After four decades, Sadaghiani still gets to the restaurant early in the morning to make their famous tongue sandwiches and Oshe-Reshte, a Persian noodle soup, with love. She’s a second mother to many of the students she’s fed over the years, who are now bringing their kids to their second home.
For Sadaf Nezhad, the movement has also had certain pressures. Although she supported the movement personally and through Sadaf Restaurant’s social media, she was attacked on social media by another woman for not posting enough about the uprising on the restaurant page. After posting a message to uplift the community, she received messages from others who had also been on the receiving end of such comments. She has since supported other Iranians who have been shamed because of their livelihood.
“This is a women’s movement. Us as women, we’re so grateful and blessed to be living in a country where we’re free to express our words, and our feelings, and have that freedom. Let’s all stick together, back one other, and not shame one another, not bully one another. Instead, let’s pull our sisters up to a higher standard,” said Nezhad.
As part of the Nowruz celebration a haft-sin was set up at Sadaf Restaurant, the table display is made up of seven items that start with the letter S in Farsi. The items symbolize virtues brought to the new year festivities. This year it bears a double meaning for those who continue feeding the movement, with a touch of hope for the new year.
