Food, art, music and great wine are all coming together over at Earth Angels for just one night — all in the name of celebrating Persian culture. A Taste of Persia, running on Saturday, October 12, is a mega collaboration between social enterprise Welcome Merchant, Persian cooking star Mahshid Babzartabi and North Melbourne's Earth Angels Wine Bar — where the party will take place. Traditional Persian dishes will be pumping out of the kitchen throughout the night — dreamt up by Babzartabi and cooked by Chef Narit Kimsat (formerly of La Pinta). You can expect zereshk polo (chicken barberries with saffron basmati rice), gheymeh (lamb and yellow split lentil stew with saffron and rosewater infusion) and halva for dessert. Beyond the food, Reza Kashi will be playing Persian tunes on the tar, setar and oud, and calligraphy artist Jodi Kashani is taking over the upstairs gallery space. Earth Angels is a fairly small space, but the team manages to fit a lot within it — there's even a cheeky courtyard out back for those wanting to sip and snack in the sunshine before the event starts at 6pm. And as it is with all of Welcome Merchant's events, A Taste of Persia is giving those who identify as a refugee, a former refugee and as a person seeking asylum the opportunity to share their experiences and culture with those who attend the dinner. Funds raised at events like this also go back to people within these communities, empowering them to make the most of life in Australia. [caption id="attachment_974922" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tasha Tylee[/caption]
