Jonathan Gold is the Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer for the LA Times.
This week, Gold takes us to Nersses Vanak, an Iranian-Armenian restaurant specializing in dizi, also known as abgoosht, which is a lamb and chickpea stew infused with turmeric and dried lime. At Nersses Vanak, dizi is served in two parts. First, pour the umami-rich consommé into your bowl. Add crumbled lavash bread and fresh herbs before tasting the soup. Then in a separate pot, mash up meat, legumes, potatoes and aromatics with the pestle you are given and eat the hearty paste on hot flatbread that is made in-house.
Recommendations: Gold says dizi is really the thing to order at Nersses Vanak, but the chicken and lamb kebabs, beef koobideh and gormeh sabzhi are also good.
Location: 6524 San Fernando Road, Glendale, CA 91201 | (818) 550-7800
Tip: If you’ve got the stomach space, score some pickled garlic for your dizi.
Get more recommendations from Jonathan Gold here.