About Toranj Persian Cuisine

The name

Toranj is one of the oldest motifs in Persian design, a circular medallion inspired by the shape of the sun. You find it at the center of Persian carpets, in the illumination of manuscripts, and in tilework across Iran, always at the middle of the composition with everything else arranged around it.

We took the name because it describes what we wanted the restaurant to be: a center point that people gather around. Persian meals are built the same way, with rice and stew and grilled meat placed in the middle of the table and everyone reaching in.

How we cook

Persian cooking rewards patience more than technique, and almost none of it can be rushed. Beef and chicken are marinated overnight, sometimes with saffron and onion, sometimes with yogurt or lemon, before they ever reach the grill. Kabobs are cooked to order over open flame because a skewer that sits loses everything that made it worth ordering.

Rice is its own discipline. Basmati is soaked, parboiled, drained and then steamed slowly so the grains stay separate and elongated, with saffron bloomed in hot water and folded through at the end. The crust that forms against the bottom of the pot is tahdig, golden and brittle, and it is the first thing to disappear from any table.

The stews take the longest. Ghormeh sabzi needs its herbs chopped fine and cooked down until they turn dark and deep. Fesenjan is ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses simmered for hours until the sauce thickens and turns almost black. Neither can be made quickly, which is why both are the truest test of a Persian kitchen.

What to expect on the menu

If you have never eaten Persian food, the shortest path in is a kabob plate. Koobideh is seasoned ground beef pressed onto a flat skewer and grilled; joojeh is saffron-marinated chicken; barg is thinly sliced filet mignon. All three arrive with saffron basmati rice and a charred tomato, and any of them will tell you what this cuisine is about.

From there the menu opens up. Cold appetizers like kashk-e bademjan, mast-o khiar and stuffed grape leaves are meant for the beginning of a meal and for sharing. Shirazi salad, all diced cucumber, tomato and herbs in lime, cuts through the richness of the grill. And the stews, served over rice, are what most Iranian families actually eat at home.

Vegetarians are well served here. Persian cooking leans heavily on herbs, legumes, eggplant, yogurt and rice, so a vegetarian table is not an afterthought on this menu. Vegan preparations and gluten-conscious substitutions are available on most dishes.

Two rooms, one kitchen philosophy

Our Westwood Village location sits on Lindbrook Drive, minutes from UCLA and surrounded by one of the largest Iranian communities outside Iran. It is a demanding audience, and that is exactly why we opened there.

Our Manhattan Beach location is on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, two blocks from the pier, and it brought Persian cooking to a part of the South Bay that had very little of it. The menus differ slightly between the two, but the kitchen standards do not.

Both rooms serve lunch and dinner every day, take reservations, offer pickup and delivery, and cater events across Greater Los Angeles and the South Bay.