Persian New Year Pop-Up Dinner

A multicourse dinner with wine and beer for sale. This is not a cooking class. Guests will be seated at communal tables and dishes will be served family-style. Review our registration and cancellation policies here.

We're excited to welcome Helia back to our 18th St. Kitchen! Last year, Helia taught two classes on the Flavors of Iran, sharing stories and techniques informed by their family and community. With her return to our kitchen, Helia is taking on the role of chef for this pop-up dinner celebrating the Persian New Year, Nowruz. Spring is a time of rebirth, growth, and new beginnings. Nowruz comes around every year on the spring equinox, March 20, and many cultures around the world celebrate this day as the new year, a token of the earth’s cyclical renewal. Nowruz is perhaps the most important holiday in modern Iranian culture. It is celebrated in Iran over thirteen days of rituals, visiting loved ones, gathering, feasting, and spending time in nature. Herb-centered green dishes and roasted fish are traditional for Nowruz; they represent the abundance of green in nature, the flowing rivers, the earth's rebirth, prosperity, and fertility.

Helia has a soft spot for freshly ground spices, bounties of herbs, piles of rice, and big spreads of food with friends. This dinner is an homage to her home, her family with whom she grew up celebrating Nowruz, and her ancestors who passed these recipes down for us to gather at the table every spring and enjoy these Nowruz festivities, generations later. Join us for a delicious celebration!

MENU

To Start:

Panir Sabzi Platter
A colorful assortment of fresh tender herbs, radishes, nuts, fruits, creamy feta, Persian cucumbers, served with flatbread

Kuku sabzi
Herb frittata with barberries, walnuts, and labneh

Main:

Sabzi Polo Mahi
Saffron-turmeric marinated salmon, herbed rice, potato tahdig, assortment of Persian pickles

Zaytoun Parvardeh
Olives marinated in herbs, aromatics, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, and extra virgin olive oil

Salad Shirazi
Cucumber, tomato, onion, mint, and verjuice 

Dessert:

Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream
Assortment of Persian tea cookies with Cardamom tea

This menu contains the following common allergens: Dairy, Egg, Fish, Nuts, Wheat. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to dine, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.

Helia Sadeghi is a chef and food artist based in California. She grew up in Isfahan, Iran, immersed in a world of poetry, art, and culinary heritage, shaping her deep connection to food as a vessel for connection, storytelling, and emotion. Helia created her food concept, bigdillkitchen, four years ago, to share her love of food with others through pop-ups, community events, dinner parties, workshops, and more. Her food serves as a living celebration of the sights and flavors of her home, Iran. Deeply rooted in the rhythms of nature, Helia creates nourishment that tells stories of belonging, memory, and place. To learn more about Helia's work, you can find her on Instagram or subscribe to her newsletter.

_{Photo courtesy of Helia Sadeghi}