lakh lakh

my love for persian food started many years ago after college, when we made the annual pilgrimage to staten island for saied's birthday barbeques. for many years, a bunch of us would take the state island ferry followed by a ten minute car ride to a quiet suburb where saied's parents would welcome us with grilled kebabs, tadig with saffron (traditional persian basmati rice from the bottom of the pot), grilled juicy tomatoes sprinkled with salt, stews, and more. saied always reminded us to use some sumac on the meats, a close relative of poison oak.

more recently, the persian food wave has enveloped us again with our first dinner at ravagh back in october 2014, where saied ordered plate after plate of beef, chicken, and lamb kebabs, various types of eggplant dishes, and stews for us. ravagh's dishes are very flavorful and filling, yet without that unhealthy or greasy feeling afterwards. since then, we have been paying monthly visits to the ravagh location in the east village, which is capable of hosting our large group of friends.

last night, on daisy's suggestion, the four of us went for lakh lakh's pop-up dinner at porsena's extra, next door to porsena in the east village. chef louisa shahia had been hosting monday night pop-up persian dinners since the fall and we were catching the tail end of its run. 

kevin and i arrived early and i'd skipped breakfast and lunch, so we started with drinks and an order of the herbs and cheese with babari bread. the bread was warm and with great crispy texture, and the herbs and cheese were surprisingly simple, yet addictive. when daisy and saied arrived, we decided to order everything on the menu, times two. 

as we made our way down the menu, i enjoyed the dishes more and more. my three favorite dishes were the last three savory ones for sure: khoresht-e narenj chicken (stew), pakistani ground lamb kebabs with ginger and mint, and the balgabag plov, azerbaijani style rice with pumpkin and saffron. all of the dishes were flavorful, yet light, and served tapas style so we could try them all. to top it all off, the bastani, saffron gelato with crushed pistachio was off the charts! subtle hints of saffron topped with crunchy pistachios, all in an almost soft-serve texture.

throughout our dinner, louisa, stopped by to talk with us about her inspiration and travels which led to the development of these dishes. towards the end of the night, her husband, james, who had been sitting quietly to my left, piped in with stories about their iranian trip preparations and the persian tradition of taarof, aka, aggressive etiquette.

it was a fun relaxing night with great food, company, and conversation, a nice way to start off the week.

sunday rundays - 22-miler done!

sunday was our long run day! and similar to last weekend, while saturday was raining cats and dogs, sunday was gloriously sunny and dry, cool and crisp! absolutely perfect.

though it didn't start out that way. alarm went off at 5:15, snoozed until 5:35 and finally got ready and out the door around 5:55. it was pitch black out and very cold (45F). as we sped along the FDR on sunday morning in the cab, i was wondering if we were going to get ourselves lost or held up or blown off the island (it was so windy!). by the time we pulled up to the staten island ferry station, i was convinced we were idiots for trying to do our longest training run on staten island (neither of us have really spent much time there before), and pairing it up with a half marathon. how the heck was this going to work? on top of it all, i was still groggy and yawning.

as we walked towards the ferry station, i saw a few other people in running gear with their bibs and thought - haha we're not the only idiots. as we took the escalators up to the ferry station landing, BOOM! there were hundreds if not thousands of runners stretching, drinking coffee, adjusting their gear, etc! i suddenly felt very awake and not so foolish anymore. it seemed like lots of runners were pairing up their training with the half! :) i think that mental relief helped me through the rest of the day. it's pretty crazy how much of the race is mental ... at least 50% i'd say.

the first part of our run was NOT nice. we ran from the ferry station west along richmond terrace and stayed as close to the water as possible, passing some downtown retail stores, some residential areas, and lots of sanitation treatment centers. the smell in the air was not so fresh to say the least. in addition, the sidewalks, when available, were uneven, strewn with glass shards and litter, and in dire need of repair.

the second part of our run (the race), was really fun! the race course started at the staten island yankees stadium and went along the east side of the island, passing the verazano bridge (honestly, i didn't notice it though), some nice downtown and residential areas, and what seemed like beachfront area. unfortunately one older gentleman, probably in his 50-60s, had fallen and was being given CPR around miles 6-7, but we heard after the race that he survived. thank goodness. kevin and i ran the entire race together, and i think we helped each other through it. miles 12 & 13 were the hardest for me. i wanted badly to finish strong with negative splits, but my legs felt like lead (calves specifically). i think when i got a half-second glance behind from kevin, i pulled it together a bit and was able to muster a little bit of energy left in the last 1/10th. hahaha. we finished with 1:46:18 by my watch (1:45:49 official). i think it's a PR for me :)

here are a couple pics from the race:

staten island yankees stadium

bumped into ray and will at the race!

part 1 of long run

part 2 of long run

staten island recap: the 13.1 is a great course and will definitely try it again. however probably will not do any longer training runs there again!

now for the treats :) treated ourselves to abraço cafe's olive oil cake (thanks to the great rec from dais!) and oatmeal raisin cookie, and odd fellows pretzel and smores (smoked marshmellows!) ice cream. pigging out without regret is definitely a nice side perk of training!

odd fellows' pretzel and smores ice cream

best: fun ride back from staten island and lunch with ray and will! post-race analyzing and caring for battle wounds is super fun with friends. not to mention, i discovered the BEST dish ever at pho sure: pork chop with fried egg over rice. cannot wait to go back ...

worst: pretty sure i traumatized and lost another two toenails after the long run. doh ... personally i don't mind not having the toenails - it makes the running much more comfortable, but it looks funny in sandals :D

smile: wil's friend, steph, also ran the half and during our ride back to the city together, all she could talk about was getting a fried egg sandwich, but it HAD to be on a portuguese roll. hilarious. (i don't even know what a portuguese roll is ...) she was overall super light-humored and funny, reminds me of my sister hahaha ... sees the lighter things in life.