"The heady aroma of zira, the Uzbek word for cumin, perfumes nearly every dish served at Zira Uzbek Kitchen, including its grilled meats, tender dumplings, and signature plov (rice pilaf). The new restaurant dedicated to Central Asia’s foodways and cultures opens Friday, November 15, 2024, at 7422 Melrose Avenue in the former space of kosher Mediterranean restaurant Ta’eem Grill on the border of West Hollywood. The restaurant joins a handful of Southland establishments specializing in Uzbek cooking, including longtime Valley Village stalwart Tashkent Produce, Kashtan in Hollywood, Tustin’s Samarkand Grill, and the more recent mobile operation Lazzat. Zira’s owner Azim Rahmatov immigrated from Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Los Angeles in 2001 and has long dreamed of opening a restaurant. As a 21-year-old newcomer to the U.S., Rahmatov earned a degree in hospitality management from Cal Poly Pomona while working his way up from dishwasher to manager at the now-closed Restaurant Uzbekistan on Sunset and La Brea. Rahmatov spent decades working behind the scenes in luxury hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey and Baccarat Hotel just south of Central Park in New York City, before deciding to branch out on his own, prompted, in part, by the precariousness of employment and life that the pandemic magnified. “I’ve always wanted to open my own restaurant,” he says. “The pandemic reassured me that I needed to open my own business.” Together with his wife, Gulnigor “Gigi” Ganieva, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles who runs the restaurant’s social media after hours, and their two children, Rahmatov is building a hub for Los Angeles’s Uzbek community, which numbers around 3,000 according to the U.S. Census. “Our main goal is not only to serve food,” Rahmatov says. “My wife, my family, [we want] to bring our community together to have a space to celebrate, to give them the sense of community, something to remind them about Uzbekistan.” The full-service restaurant spans 2,500 square feet and seats up to 60 diners. Understated and sturdy wooden tables and chairs are complemented by colorful fabrics, pillows, and service pieces that Rahmatov sourced from Uzbekistan. Light fixtures accented with dainty tassels add warmth and whimsy to the room. Uzbekistan’s cuisine is informed by its geography straddling Asia and Europe, economic significance on the Silk Road, and immigration history, including an influx of Russian and Ukrainian refugees following World War II. “Eastern European cuisine blended into Uzbek cuisine,” says Rahmatov. Over time, dishes like borscht and beef stroganoff were integrated into the local culinary canon, along with Western Chinese influences like hand-pulled noodles and even Korean kimchi. Behind the stoves is chef Azam Rahmatov, Azim’s brother who cooked at the restaurant Old Bukhara in Morganville, New Jersey before relocating to Los Angeles to helm Zira’s kitchen along with his protege Islam Isakov. The menu includes a blend of the chef’s specialties, like grilled lamb shashlik; oxtail stew with chickpeas and fresh herbs; and red wine-braised lamb shanks paired with a creamy mushroom sauce, along with Rahmatov family recipes for pickled vegetables, borscht, and plov. “There are hundreds of different plovs because we have 12 regions and every region has two or three different kinds of plovs,” Azim says. Zira prepares its plov in a traditional kazan with beef, carrots, chickpeas, and scallion garnish. For diners less familiar with Uzbek cuisine, Azim recommends starting with either the Achichuk or the Tashkent salads. The former includes fresh tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños with dill and kurt (Kazakh cheese), while the latter brings together cured beef, white radish, and boiled eggs in a creamy, herbaceous dressing topped with caramelized onions. An order of hand-pulled laghman noodles ladled with beef, lamb, and vegetables should also appear on the table, Azim says, along with the crispy and aromatic pastries filled with hand-cut lamb, beef, and onions called samsa and a platter of manti (dumplings). Zira offers the dumplings pan-fried or steamed and stuffed with either shredded pumpkin or beef and lamb; both varieties are served with a dill-laced yogurt sauce. Grilled beef or lamb shashlik and plenty of plov to share work as a main course. While tofu isn’t common in Uzbek cooking, Zira offers the plant-based protein to accommodate vegetarians and vegans. Coffee, green and black teas, and a variety of soft drinks are available to drink; beer and wine will be served once permitting is cleared. “I was in Uzbekistan for the first time in nine years this July and was reminded how warm, friendly, and kind Uzbek hospitality is,” says Azim. “You can go hungry to the bazaar, and you might say, ‘I don’t have money,’ and they’ll just feed you.” Azim hopes that this generous spirit of “Uzbek hospitality” will become synonymous with Zira. Zira Uzbek Kitchen is located at 7422 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m." - Cathy Chaplin
