{"id":250121,"date":"2025-09-23T23:13:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250121\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T23:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:13:16","slug":"londons-best-iranian-restaurant-brings-coal-grilled-meats-to-the-arts-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250121\/","title":{"rendered":"London\u2019s Best Iranian Restaurant Brings Coal-Grilled Meats to the Arts District"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berenjak, a London-based Iranian restaurant<\/a>, will soon be firing its coal-grilled kebabs in Los Angeles\u2019s Arts District. The restaurant opens Wednesday, September 24, on the garden floor of swanky Soho Warehouse, marking the first publicly accessible location in the U.S.; Berenjak also operates a location at the Dumbo House that is only available to members. The opening comes from a partnership between Soho House and JKS Restaurants, which also operates two-Michelin-starred Indian restaurant Gymkhana<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chef\u202f Kian Samyani founded Berenjak in 2018, pulling inspiration from the vibrant kebab (also spelled \u201ckabab\u201d) houses of Tehran. The restaurant has received widespread acclaim, including garnering a Michelin Bib Gourmand<\/a> in London. Currently, Berenjak operates two locations in London \u2014 one in SoHo and another in Borough \u2014 alongside outposts in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The name comes from the golden, crispy rice<\/a> Samyani used to prepare in his childhood.<\/p>\n

Meals at Berenjak are meant to be enjoyed family-style, with shallow dishes of mezze, fresh bread, khoresht, and kebabs spread across the table. Start with taftoon, a wood-oven-baked seeded sourdough flatbread, or sangak, a seeded whole wheat flatbread. Mezze (also spelled \u201cmazeh\u201d) comprises zeytoon, olives pooled with lemon and garlic; panir sabzi, Bulgarian white cheese topped with radish, fresh herbs, and sesame seeds; mast o khiar, a strained yogurt with cucumber, mint, and green raisins; and creamy hummus made with black chickpeas and sunflower seed tahini.<\/p>\n

\"Outside<\/a><\/p>\n

Outside Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Outstretched<\/a><\/p>\n

Tea service at Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Mood lighting at Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Outstretched<\/a><\/p>\n

Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/a><\/p>\n

Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

Kebabs are grilled over coals, imbuing the meats with a deep, smoky flavor and pleasant char. Choose from options like the koobideh kebab with minced lamb shoulder; the chicken jujeh kebab marinated in saffron, yogurt, lemon, and tomato; or the tikkeh masti kebab with beef filet, garlic, onion, and yogurt. Fans of lamb should try the chenjeh kebab, marinated in onion, saffron, and black pepper, while those looking for seafood might go for the prawn meygoo kebab. All of the kebab platters arrive with sangak bread.<\/p>\n

Round out meals at Berenjak with a choice of sofreh such as shirazi salad with diced tomato or saffron-tinged rice. Among the sides, torshi haftebijar with pickled cauliflower and carrots provides an acidic balance to the skewers; fried potatoes (sibzamini) are easy to share. Berenjak serves two khoresht (stew) options: Gormeh sabzi with lamb, kidney beans, and dried lime, and ghaimeh bademjoon, an eggplant stew with yellow peas, dried lime, and tomato.<\/p>\n

With a full liquor license, Berenjak serves cocktails infused with Iranian flavors like a saffron carajillo, and the Grown Up Doogh, a spiked version of the classic yogurt drink. The wine menu features bottles from across California, Lebanon, Armenia, Italy, and Greece. Zero-proof options include a tangy black lime sharbat and a bright elderflower sekanjabin with cucumber and apple cider vinegar.<\/p>\n

Berenjak\u2019s interior blends Soho Warehouse\u2019s mid-century style with the feeling of a garden in Tehran. Richly colored rugs cover the floors, illuminated by scalloped chandeliers and candlelight. The interior seamlessly transitions to the outdoor dining patio, where trees obscure the surroundings, creating a sense of a secret garden. Art in gold frames on the walls evokes the feeling of entering a family home. A separate public entrance for the restaurant will be available on the front side of the building.<\/p>\n

Berenjak is part of a growing list of London-based restaurants with their sights set on U.S. expansion. Gymkhana will open at the Aria Resort and Casino<\/a> in Las Vegas this fall, while London\u2019s seminal Indian restaurant Dishoom has plans to open in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Berenjak is located at 1000 S. Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90021, with the public entrance at 1010 S. Santa Fe Avenue. It will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. <\/p>\n

\"Server<\/a><\/p>\n

Grilled prawns at Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Drinks<\/a><\/p>\n

Drink spread at Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Restaurant<\/a><\/p>\n

Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n

\"Outside<\/a><\/p>\n

Outside Berenjak. Sean Hazen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berenjak, a London-based Iranian restaurant, will soon be firing its coal-grilled kebabs in Los Angeles\u2019s Arts District. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":250122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,14730,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-250121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-restaurant-openings","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115256151966454236","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}