Nasrin's Kitchen

Persian Cuisine, Ancient and Enduring, at Nasrin’s Kitchen | The New Yorker

"At dinner recently I learned the Farsi term lebos polo khori (“rice-eating clothes”), which felt apt given how much rice was piled on the table at Nasrin’s Kitchen, a new Persian restaurant in midtown run by Nasrin Rejali, an Iranian refugee who moved to Queens via Turkey in 2016 after a series of popular pop-ups and opened the restaurant last month. Several plates came from the Chelo Khoresh section: the khoresh-e ghormeh sabzi — a forest-green stew of tender beef, fat kidney beans, fried herbs, fenugreek, and sun-dried limes — arrived with saffron-tinged rice and a square of crispy tahdig; the zereshk polo ba morgh was almost all rice—basmati studded with tart barberries, shards of pistachio and almond, saffron oil and tahdig—burying braised saffron-and-tomato chicken legs. Kebabs (koobideh of ground lamb and beef and juicy saffron‑and‑lemon boneless chicken) came with grilled peppers and tomatoes, raw red onion and fresh basil, and I loved mixing rice with Rejali’s yogurt dips: the tangy mast mosir with Persian shallots and nigella and the sweeter mast khiar with cucumber, raisins, sunflower seeds, dried mint and rose petals. Her dolmeh barg mo, made to her mother’s recipe, wrapped rice with yellow split peas, barberries, tarragon, basil, cilantro and onion in grape leaves, simmered in pomegranate molasses and served warm. There were also non‑rice highlights: a herb-forward kuku sabzi and a luscious mirza ghasemi eggplant-and-tomato dip topped with a fried egg and freshly baked flatbread. The marble-walled dining room on the second floor of a century-old townhouse lends a faded, formal glamour to the place (even though many diners wore scrubs), and dishes are priced around $9–$30." - Hannah Goldfield