David Futch
Soheil Salimit's Tehran Market is a delight of smells and offerings. There are fresh vegetables Salimit picks up at 2 a.m. every morning. There are four kinds of pistachios and four kinds of olives. There are 20-pound sacks of basmati rice and, for dessert, a saffron ice cream sandwich. But it's the Sunday cookout in the parking lot behind the store that has mouths watering and noses twitching. Salmon, chicken, lamb, beef and vegetables sizzle on a long grill that's manned by owners Salimit and his partner, Mory Pourvasei. As many as 700 people show up on Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to get their fix of Middle Eastern fare. “Everybody likes it,” Salimit says. “It doesn't matter if they're from Los Angeles, France, Asia or Persia.” Each portion is huge, served in a deep-dish aluminum pan big enough for a small turkey. There will be leftovers. Shish kabob prices range from $7.99 for ground beef or chicken to $9.99 for salmon and $13.99 for lamb. There's a bed of lavash bread for the meat and veggies, which include grilled sweet peppers, a couple of tomatoes, some zucchini and a salad of cilantro, onion and garlic. It's good to take to go, but there's a small table with an umbrella for those who can't wait.
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