Excerpt by Kay West (Nashville Scene Feb 2006)
Sepideh Alviri’s innocent question, “Did you leave room for baklava?” provoked a wave of laughter from our table. Even she had to smile, picking up the dishes that held little more than a hint of what was on them just 30 minutes before. Having eaten our way through five servings of shirazi salad, three plates of feta cheese and warm pita bread, three bowls of yogurt, five plates of basmati rice, a lamb shank, four kabobs, two bowls of stew, five chargrilled tomatoes and a pile of peppers and onions, the five of us were spent. Even so, having savored and marveled over every morsel of food that came out of Sepideh’s husband Merhdad’s kitchen that afternoon, we regretted the fact that our limited number and sated appetites prevented us from sampling the three remaining stews and the three specials available at Hot Kabobs. There was even brief thought given to taking them home for dinner that night.

Mehrdad has agreed to work with the Nashville State Community College Culinary Arts to prepare a sampling of this rich culinary tradition - you don't want ot miss this meeting.