Rumi’s Kitchen opened its doors to its first West Coast location in Century City on Sept. 23.
“It’s going to be our biggest location, and it’s going to be our most glamorous location,” said Ali Mesghali, the executive chef and founder of Rumi’s Kitchen, in a teaser video on the restaurant’s Instagram.
Patrons enter the restaurant through a mural-lined corridor, passing a traditional Persian water fountain before entering the two-story dining room with arched windows and Venetian plastered walls. Seating 310 people, the restaurant has a bar, open kitchen, two private dining rooms and a large rooftop patio where guests can eat beneath pomegranate and satsuma orange trees.
Credit: Catherine Dzilenski“For nearly 20 years, Rumi’s has been a labor of love, rooted in Persian hospitality and the joy of sharing a table,” said Maryam Tabassian, co-owner and leader of the company’s design team, in a recent Instagram post.
The high-end Persian restaurant company has won multiple design awards for its restaurants’ architecture and interiors, and its Washington, D.C. branch received a culinary recognition in the prestigious Michelin Guide, leaving high expectations for the restaurant company’s sixth location.
The L.A. location brings in exclusive menu items, such as the Whole Red Snapper cooked in a Charcoal oven with hazelnut and pepita dukkah and topped with olive oil and lemon. There is also their three-bone short rib roasted with a special pomegranate molasses glaze.
Rumi’s Kitchen is known for their slow-cooked stews like the ghormeh sabzi, a traditional beef and herb stew served with crispy potato tahdig. The L.A. menu also features dishes like lamb ribsm, glazed in grape molasses and kashk badenjoon, a fried eggplant with cream of whey and crispy onion mint.
Along with the establishment’s extensive wine list by the restaurant’s COO Stephen Kaplan, its mixed drinks add a Persian and Middle Eastern twist to classic cocktails like the Choose Nectar, a mix of gin, saffron, Turkish fig, honey and pimento dram, and Maydan, a stiff cocktail drink with cognac, Cocchi di Torino, Bénédictine, Persian tea bitters and saffron.
Credit: Catherine DzilenskiThe world-class cocktail program is directed by Julian Goglia, who has an extensive portfolio in the art of drink making. After working in numerous Atlanta cocktail bars, he has been named in Eater Atlanta’s Best Bartender, Zagat 30 Under 30, Eater’s Young Guns, and The Daily Meal’s Top 25 Bartenders in America.
Born in Iran, Mesghali moved to Los Angeles at the age of 11, spending his early career in Persian restaurants across the Golden State. His experience working in these spaces created the working plans for Rumi, but its first location did not open until 2006 in Atlanta. The restaurant’s success led to four more location openings throughout Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Texas.
“It has always been my dream to bring a concept I created back to a place I grew up,” Mesghali said. “I’m excited to share the love of Rumi’s Kitchen in L.A.”
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