"There’s a strong thread of paying it forward in Sacramento’s dining culture: immigrants who arrived decades ago and worked in one of the few restaurants in the city that catered to the cuisine of their homeland have now opened their own restaurants. That’s preface to the story of Maydoon, whose executive chef Idean Farid, has followed in the footsteps of his parents, who’d opened a Persian restaurant of their own in Rancho Cordova, which they sold in 2020. A weekday lunch spread of kashkeh bodemjan (grilled eggplant dip dolloped with yogurt and drizzled with mint oil) and a Maydoon bowl (recommended with the sumptuous shredded lamb) make for a comforting, well-balanced treat — and a scoop of Persian ice cream, made with saffron, rosewater, and pistachios is a must, by the way." - Tamerra Griffin
