Meet the brother-sister duo serving Persian flavours across the world

There was one thing that Amin and Honey Ebra were very sure of before starting Belgrave, a Persian restaurant—it would not have kebabs. 

As the grandchildren of the head chef of the Persian monarchy, the brother-sister duo had always been passionate about their cuisine and wanted to serve Persian food beyond kebabs.   

“There is so much character and flavour to Persian cuisine. But every Iranian or Persian cuisine place was focused on kebabs,” says Amin. 

“There is so much more to Iranian food than just kebabs. We knew it was an uphill battle because Iranian cuisines and kebabs had become synonymous, and we were breaking that mould,” he explains, in a conversation with YourStory Gulf. 

Once he had the idea in place, Amin roped in his sister, a mechanical engineer, who was working in the oil and gas industry. Honey understood Amin’s passion for food, especially Iranian cuisine. 

“I could relate to his need to have a cuisine that is authentic and flavourful. Every time we had Middle Eastern food, it felt like there was something missing,” says Honey. 

With the idea in place, the duo worked on the concept to ensure that they built a restaurant that brought out the legacy and flavour of Persian cuisine. 

Amin worked on the menu, ideation, creating different foods, and understanding what would work and what wouldn’t. Honey worked on the operations, hiring and other details of the restaurant. 

“I give structure to the ideas that Amin has and it is my job to ensure that the ideas are executed to the dot,” she says.

Today, Belgrave is present in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and London. It first was opened at St John’s Wood in London, close to the spot where the iconic cover shoot of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album was done. 

“I wanted to bring the true flavour and colour of Persian cuisine to the heart of London,” says Amin. 

Belgrave in Abu Dhabi

Amin also wanted to bring a part of London—a city he loves—to Abu Dhabi. 

Belgrave on Red Crescent Street in Abu Dhabi has red telephone booths and miniature red double-decker buses, offering a glimpse of London. The cosy space also has shades of gold, white, and grey. 

“It was my space and I wanted to bring all the passion I had towards food and cities under one roof. The ambience, music, and smells are pleasing and have a certain polish to it,” says Amin. 

But being a Persian restaurant with no kebabs meant creating a significant awareness among people. The siblings say that for a long time people wondered about the missing kebabs, but the variety of food on the menu, catering to different tastes and palettes, helped them form an informed opinion about Persian fare. 

Today, however, kebabs are part of Belgrave’s menu.

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The menu is refreshingly different and completely Persian—with different kinds of foods and drinks, which are “simply ignored” otherwise, according to Amin. 

While Belgrave Abu Dhabi doesn’t serve alcoholic drinks as it is housed in a government building, it has some energising mocktails such as the Saffron Martini. 

Dishes such as Pistachio Bread and Zeytum Parvardeh, a starter made of olives, pomegranates and herbs, have quite a bit of bite and zing. Kashk Bademjoom, a dish made from chargrilled eggplant and mint, with walnuts and matured saffron yoghurt, is full of freshness—the kind you cannot find anywhere. 

“The only problem I find with Persian cuisine is that there are no desserts, or rather that many options of desserts,” says Amin. 

So, he created his own recipes with ingredients such as saffron and cardamon. 

The saffron love cake has a hint of sweet, spice and tart, flavours that are inspired by Persian cuisine. 

Pandemic learnings

The restaurant was running well until the pandemic broke out. 

“It gave us time to work and look at a menu that was different and brought in the flavours of Iranian street food,” says Honey. 

While Amin worked on the backend, on getting the right flavours and building the right products, Honey’s job was to bring them out into the market. 

Honey says the team worked on making the restaurant’s online delivery smoother and faster. During this time, Amin came up with a packaging system that ensured hygiene, freshness and quality. 

“The packaging is completely vacuum sealed and ensures that the food says completely fresh,” she explains. 

One can take the packed food into the shower and not a drop of water will enter the package, says Amin. 

Currently, Belgrave has a team of 25 people in Abu Dhabi.

Over the last one year, the restaurant has made over AED 4 million in Abu Dhabi. The brother and sister now wish to expand their business across the GCC.