Looking at Anar Restaurant from the street, it would be hard
to tell this new lunch and dinner spot was open for business. Housed in a non-descript
building on an industrial stretch of Harrison Street, its single window tinted in defense against the sun, Anar looks desolate. Push open the shaded door and the scene
changes. White linen-draped tables filled with nearby office workers exchange
stories and laughter. Servers bustle to-and-fro, delivering drinks and taking
orders. The pings and clinks of food preparation bounce out of the kitchen.
Anar, Persian for pomegranate and open since July, is the work of
the Mohammadi family. Originally from Tehran, where the family ran a
restaurant, the Mohammadis are all involved in this family business. Mother and
chef, Hoori Mohammadi, takes care of the kitchen, father Hadi Mohammadi takes
care of the business side, while daughters and in-laws serve, clear and
otherwise manage the front of the house. The recipes are the family’s, prepared
as they were in Tehran, and portions are ample. (Lunch and dinner menus are the
same.) Seasoned with saffron and lime, kebab shishlik ($26) was five Texas-size
lamb chops, served on a platter alongside a charred tomato and enough rice for
four. Zereshk polo ($17) was a whole chicken quarter, slathered with
oniony-tomato sauce. Thick with barberries, the accompanying mountain of rice had
a tart, almost sour character. Think of barberries as smaller cranberries and
the flavor, softened here with saffron, seems familiar, yet just out of the comfort range
for the sweetened American palate.
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Kebab shishlik |
Appetizers skew smaller than entrees and a soup or salad and
appetizer make a budget-conscious, satisfying lunch. Not to be missed is the
kashk-e-bademjan ($7). Served in a shallow bowl and topped with a dollop of
dried yogurt (the kashk) and fried mint, the mustard-yellow eggplant was
silky-smooth with a deep, caramelized flavor that made it impossible to stop
eating. Call this fried eggplant if you must, but the simplicity of the preparation
belied its soulful character. Scoop up the eggplant in the accompanying lavash
and utensils become a modern inconvenience, designed to lessen the experience of
the beautiful eggplant. This food deserves to be eaten with your hands. Salad-e Shirazi ($6), was a bowlful of diced cucumber,
tomato and onion, dressed in lime and mint. These small plates and a glass of
doogh ($4), or salted yogurt, make an exemplary lunch.
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Water amphora, salad-e Shirazi & kashk-e-bademjan |
Though Anar does not serve liquor (they are lacking the
requisite licenses), do take the time to savor a cup of hot tea ($2). Tradition
dictates that you suck the tea through a sugar cube, strategically placed
between your teeth, but this ritual gave me a mouthful of sweetness. Better to drop
the cube into the fluted glass cup and sip slowly, allowing the sugar to leisurely
mix with the tea, transforming it sip by sip, from bitter to sweet. Really,
this is the way any meal should end.
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Persian tea |
Like a meal at any family’s house, there are a few gaps in
timing. Menus were given when we were seated and water quickly arrived in a crystal
blue, glass amphora with glasses to match, but we then waited quite a while
before anyone asked to take our order. We could not order the beet soup as, at
the start of lunch service, it was not yet ready. Once we finished eating, it
was another while before plates were cleared and we were asked about dessert. Service
was never anything short of friendly and every inquiry about ingredients was
thoroughly answered, even if it meant a trip to the kitchen to clarify. It is
not fancy here, but dining at Anar does have an intimate quality, as though you
are getting to know the family through the experience of a meal.
In the fast-paced Bay Area lifestyle, a meal at Anar serves
as a reminder that food should be enjoyed at a slower pace. Trying to squeeze
lunch into a 30-minute window will prove challenging. Over time, as
the restaurant adjusts to the frenzied nature of the San Francisco dining environment,
these details will surely smooth out. In the meanwhile, enjoy the
luxury of a slow-cooked meal at a slow food pace. Sit. Talk. Savor. Repeat.
Anar Restaurant / 937 A Harrison Street, near Fifth Street,
San Francisco / 415-404-1948 / no website
Kashk-e-bademjan
recipe courtesy of Hoori Mohammadi
Olive oil
4 small eggplants, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
About 6 mint leaves
2 teaspoons kashk (dried yogurt)*
- Heat a medium sauté pan
over medium-high. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and heat until oil
shimmers. Add eggplant and fry until tender and beginning to caramelize,
about 10 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and place on a
plate lined with paper towels.
- Add onion and garlic to
pan and cook over medium-high heat until onion begins to caramelize and
soften, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and place on
a plate with the eggplant.
- If needed, add a bit more
oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Fry the mint leaves until crisp
and dark green, 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and
drain on another paper towel.
- Return the eggplant and
onions to the pan, reduce heat to medium and mash with a wooden spoon
until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place eggplant mixture in
a serving bowl. Drizzle with dried yogurt, sprinkle with mint leaves and
drizzle with olive oil. Serve.
*You can make your own dried yogurt (
here is a recipe), or purchase dried yogurt at a Middle Eastern grocery store.
Labels: anar restaurant, best bites san francisco, eggplant with dried yogurt and mint recipe, Kashk-e-bademjan recipe, new restaurants san francisco, Persian restaurant san francisco, Persian tea, SOMA restaurants