Persian food is the "new Indian", says a Plymouth restaurateur who found himself stranded in the 海角视频 40 years ago when the Islamic Revolution ripped through his homeland.
Edmond Davari was a young business student at Oxford Brookes University when his world was turned upside down in 1979. In Iran (he prefers the older name of Persia) a revolution was taking place, with Iranian students storming the US embassy in Tehran, taking 100 hostages, 40 years ago this week.
When the Shah was overthrown and an Islamic Republic set up under Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, it spelled personal disaster for Mr Davari.
As a middle-class Christian Iranian he found himself stranded in the 海角视频, unable to go home, his family unable to visit him or even send him money. He didn鈥檛 see some relatives for years.
鈥淭he last time I was there was 1978,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to go back and see my old school and my house, but I鈥檓 worried I鈥檒l be disappointed when I get there.
On graduating he worked as a plate washer at an establishment called Scamps in Oxford. Earning 拢1.92 an hour he left for a better paid dish-washing gig at another Oxford establishment called Downtown Manhatten.
Paying an extra 5p an hour, he though he was made 鈥 but when he got the job the joint鈥檚 owners told him they were actually bumping him up to general manager.
Three years later, after being promoted to area manager, he joined a major hotel company and then came to Plymouth as catering chief at the new Theatre Royal.
He eventually left theatreland when he had build up a fiefdom of three restaurants: Lorenzo鈥檚, Barratt鈥檚 and Pappa Joe鈥檚.
From then he鈥檚 run numerous city venues. Toot, in Plymouth city centre鈥檚 Mayflower Street, is Mr Davari鈥檚 22nd restaurant.
He opened it in late 2017 and it鈥檚 menu of Persian classics have been a major hit in the city, with the venue topping TripAdvisor鈥檚 ratings and winning awards from the likes of Luxurious Magazine.
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And Mr Davari said that is because people are getting a taste for Persian cooking, with it even taking over from Indian food in the public鈥檚 affections.
The number of Indian restaurants has been declining nationally, even estimated to half by the end of the 2020s, while Middle Eastern cuisine becomes more sought after.
The British Takeaway Campaign said Persian diners, alongside Pakistani, Greek and Turkish, were growing in 2019, as Indian and Chinese outlets stalled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going really well,鈥 said Mr Davari. 鈥淧ersian is the new Indian. People are getting to learn about it and that it has so much to offer.鈥
Mr Davari, a pioneer in Mexican and Moroccan food in the past, decided the dishes from his homeland would be the next trend.
鈥淚鈥檝e always tried to do the right thing at the right time,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 glad I鈥檝e done it now, any earlier it would have been difficult to crack it.
鈥淧ersian food is in London now 鈥 you can鈥檛 go to any of its 100 restaurants without having to queue.鈥
Toot - what does the name mean
Edmond Davari鈥檚 Plymouth restaurant is called Toot, but it has nothing to do with the sound a trumpet makes.
The name is Persian for 鈥渕ulberry鈥, because Edmond wanted a word fellow Persians (he prefers the old moniker to calling countrymen Iranian) would recognise.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also funky and catchy,鈥 he said.
But when he checked on the English slang meaning of the word he got a shock.
鈥淚t means a line of cocaine,鈥 he laughed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a term for how a man discards a woman after sex.
鈥淏ut no one has mentioned it to me 鈥 maybe they don鈥檛 want to own up to knowing.鈥
Persian food is traditional, using very fresh ingredients with many recipes passed down in families.
There is a lot of lamb, but also a lot of vegetables, which is why it鈥檚 easily veganised.
Dishes include Ghormeh Sabzi, containing kidney beans flavoured with sun-dried lime; Gheymeh, which is lentils with aubergine and tomato; and saffron rice, so dry you are supposed to be able to count the grains.
He said the dishes are particularly a hit with the growing vegan market, with many of them plant-based including non-meat falafels.
Mr Davari has even served up thousands of meals at enormous Vegfest events in London, Brighton and Glasgow where there were two-hour queues for his stalls.
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鈥淲ith Persian food there is such a variety of vegetarian and vegan food,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o this is the right time for it to explode.
鈥淎nd even for meat eaters, I include kebabs grilled over a flame, that鈥檚 more healthy, a lot of the fat is taken out.
鈥淭he recipes go back hundreds of years, every area of Tehran, where I grew up had its own version of these dishes.鈥
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And he said once people become aware of a type of cuisine the interest builds and buildd.
鈥淭here was a programme on TV about Persian food and the next day we were full,鈥 he said. 鈥淓veryone came in to try our food.
鈥淏ut there won鈥檛 be a chain of Persian restaurants, or maybe in years to come when they see the potential.鈥
