140178 Sun Mar 19 10:21:13 -0800 2006 2 11 South 0 749852 We've moved down here recently - looking for persian restaurants in the south. We're close to Charlotte and have already been to the Kabob House (not great). Wouldn't mind recommendations from other cities, as I'm sure we'll be travelling around a bit and can keep them on file. Thanks! Sun Mar 19 10:21:13 -0800 2006 0 kgallo 1 749854 There's Cafe Parvaneh in Chapel Hill. I'll copy something that I posted about it as part of a longer post back in December 2004. (I don't live in CH, just visit every few months, and I haven't been to Parveneh since that post, so please check hours, etc. before making a special trip.) Amata *********** PARVANEH: This small Persian restaurant might get overlooked by casual visitors to town, in a somewhat out-of-the-way strip shopping center on the other side of Elliott Road from the Whole Foods Plaza. I’ve eaten there twice now, and think it’s a very nice addition to the Chapel Hill restaurant options. This last occasion, Antonius and I each started with a cup of ash, a bean and noodle soup, split the nun-o-panir appetizer of feta, parsley, walnuts and pita bread, then followed it with two excellent main courses: a combination of joojeh kabob and kubideh kabob on basmati rice for me (chunks of chicken breast sprinkled with sumac; spiced ground beef), and khoresh ghaimeh badenjun for Antonius (stew of lamb, tomato, and eggplant). I found my mother’s choice of khoresh fesenjun (chicken with ground walnuts and pomegranate juice) too rich and sweet for my taste, which is of course not to say that it isn’t completely authentic! Presumably authentic as well is doogh, the salty, sour yogurt drink I tried there. (Beer and wine are also available if that doesn’t sound appealing.) I think Parvaneh and her husband deserve a lot of credit for offering food which is not only quite good, but also unfamiliar to many of their customers. It would probably be easier and perhaps more profitable to dumb down the menu to fit mainstream American tastes, but they have fortunately chosen a different approach. Cafe Parvaneh 400-J S. Elliott Rd Chapel Hill, NC (919) 929-2779 M- Th 10-8; F-Sat 10-9; closed Sunday http://cafep.com/ Sun Mar 19 11:29:44 -0800 2006 749852 0 Amata 1 749878 Try Kabob Grill on East Blvd in the Harris Teeter shopping center Mon Mar 20 13:47:40 -0800 2006 749852 0 jlw