September 4, 2015 -- Paris has a small but noticeable population of people who originated
in Iran. The first big wave of these
Persian immigrants occurred in the early 20
th century. These generally were students whose way was
paid by the Persian government. In the
1930s, the Persian government established a competitive exam to decide who
would receive these scholarships. The
students were required to live in dormitories, in part so that they could be
watched by agents from the Iranian Embassy.
Students, as we all know, can be rebellious.
The Pahlavi government was overthrown, and after the 1979
revolution in Iran, one of these Iranians formerly educated in France
became that country’s new prime minister.
His name was Mehdi Bazargan (1908-1995).
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| The Germinal brasserie on the avenue Emile Zola. |
Bazargan had studied engineering at the grand École Central des Arts et Manufactures
in Paris. After his studies, he served in
the French army, fighting against Nazi Germany.
Then he returned to Teheran to head up the first engineering department
at the university there. Later, he was
the first Iranian to run the National Iranian Oil Company.
Politically, he was a co-founder of the Liberation Movement
in Iran in the early 1960s. He professed
to accept Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the head of state; nevertheless, he was
a political prisoner from time to time, under the Pahlavi government. His house was firebombed in 1978, during the
Pahlavi reign.
After Bazargan was appointed Prime Minister of Iran, he was
one of the more democratic and liberal leaders of the revolutionary government,
and so he clashed with the more extremist religious leaders. His term as prime minister didn’t last
long. He resigned in November 1979 after
the takeover of the U.S. Embassy and the hostage-taking. His resignation was a protest against the
hostage taking, and an admission that the Iranian government was unable to free
the hostages.
Still, Bazargan continued a career in Iranian politics,
although he became increasingly frustrated.
He tried to run for president in 1985, but the so-called “Council of
Guardians” refused to allow it.
Among Muslim scholars, Bazargan is respected. He is known for his work in human
thermodynamics. In prison, he wrote Love and Worship: Human Thermodynamics, published in
1956. According to Wikipedia, in this
book he attempts “to show that religion and worship are a byproduct of
evolution, as explained in English naturalist Charles Darwin's 1859 Origin of
Species, and that the true laws of society are based on the laws of
thermodynamics.”
Later in life, Bazargan developed a heart problem. He was on his way to the United States for
heart surgery when he collapsed in an airport in Switzerland. He died there in January 1995.
We never knew anyone from Iran who was like Bazargan, but we
did know Reza, the Iranian plumber whose shop was just a quarter block away
from us on the rue du Theatre. I think
Reza would have been at least ten years younger than Bazargan, and Reza, too, was
imprisoned for political reasons during the Pahlavi years. We always suspected that Reza was much more
than a plumber when he was in Iran; he may have been one of those Iranian
students who, like Bazargan, was trained as an engineer in Paris.
Reza and his two gorgeous Persian cats retired and moved
away from the neighborhood a few years ago.
We miss seeing him and the cats in the shop window as we pass by, on the way to the grocery. Reza liked Tom and considered him to be, like
Reza himself, a stylish and cool guy – just because he wore a blazer to dinner
in the evening. I think Reza also liked
the way we listened to him, and accepted his advice without question – on plumbing
matters.
Reza never did seem to hang out at the Iranian restaurants
and shops in the area. We did, however,
frequently see him drinking on the terrace of Lola, a brasserie on the avenue Emile Zola
and the rue du Theatre.
A week ago, as we sat at a table by the window at Stephane
Martin’s restaurant on the rue des Entrepreneurs, I took notice of a Persian
restaurant across the street. Its sharp,
new black awning had crisp cursive lettering in shiny metallic gold, announcing
the name of the establishment:
Guylas. I saw a number of people
entering the place, including a few in traditional Persian garb (headscarves, but no niqabs, burkas, or veils). The windows were sparkling clean, and
revealed interesting dark-blue or purple upholstery within. I made a mental note to check it out when I
was at my computer.
We’ve noticed, through the years, that there is a cluster of
Persian businesses in that pocket of the neighborhood, mostly on the rue des
Entrepreneurs, but also including a few scattered places only a block or two
away – such as a new Persian place on the avenue Emile Zola that is trying to
look like a member of the Relais de l’Entrecote steakhouse chain.
When we walk by the pseudo-Relais de l’Entrecote resto
(named the Relais du Quinzieme) in the evenings, the place looks fairly
deserted – not too promising. But this
other new place, Guylas, looks promising.
I checked Yelp, Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor. The reviews for Guylas are quite good. Several reviewers claim that Guylas is the
best Iranian restaurant in Paris.
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| The dining room at Guylas. |
The food descriptions were interesting – grilled meats,
special rice, special sauces, and rose and pistachio flavored ice cream. Since it is a sizable restaurant and since
we dine a little early by Parisian standards, I thought we could risk going
there without a reservation. Last night
was the first night for which we had no reservations.
So after a long day of work at the computers, with one
outing in the afternoon for groceries, bakery bread, and a few other odd items,
we walked down the busy rue du Commerce, skirting the park at the Place du
Commerce, and taking a shortcut through a particularly attractive 1930’s
cluster of apartment buildings, to then cross the rue des Entrepreneurs and
enter Guylas.
The music played on the restaurant’s sound system was
traditional Persian fare, and that was good, except we wished it had been more
instrumental and less vocal.
The server, a very competent young Persian woman, seated us
at the far end of the restaurant, away from the chilly drafts of the front
door. I was comfortable on the plush
blue-velvet banquette, and Tom was seated in one of the substantial blue
velvet-upholstered chairs. The sponge-painted
deep blue walls boasted only a few, well-chosen paintings.
We selected the assortment of brochettes for two people, so
that we could sample a variety of the grilled meats. What arrived at the table was a platter of
offerings that would have easily served a family of four. Thank goodness Tom had a ZipLoc bag in his
pocket.
The dinner was fine – all high-quality ingredients served in
a refined and comfortable ambiance. The
desserts included that special rose and pistachio ice cream, as well as a slice
of delicate, multi-layered cake.
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| Assorted brochettes for two people at Guylas. |
We enjoyed chatting with the server at the end of our
visit. We talked about the various
products that Iran is known for – including tea and carpets. We confessed that we especially like the
carpets. She said she is from Teheran,
and that she has worked as a carpet weaver.
Tom said he thought it might be very tranquil, satisfying work. She said it was, but that it was hard – her shoulders
and back would ache at the end of the day, and the lint dust gave her a
persistent cough. She must have worked
for one of the large, urban operations – which is where some of the most
refined rugs are made.
We left the restaurant, and the neighborhood known as “Little
Teheran” (
Petit Téhéran), and made
the short walk home. In case you want to
visit Little Teheran, here’s a list of addresses:
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Saffron and basmati rice, with onions and roasted
tomato. This I mixed up and added a little butter and the red spice
blend that was in a little pot on the table. Then the grilled meat
goes on top. Our server said I "mixed it well, like an Iranian." |
Eskan – grocery – 62 bis, rue des Entrepreneurs (especially
known for pastries)
Sepide – grocery –
62 ter, rue des Entrepreneurs
Bazartache –
grocery – 72 rue des Entrepreneurs
Koukou –
restaurant – 59 ter, rue des Entrepreneurs
Cheminee –
restaurant – 60 bis, rue des Entrepreneurs
Mazeh –
restaurant – 65 rue des Entrepreneurs
Guylas –
restaurant – 68 rue des Entrepreneurs
Perchiana –
restaurant – 7 rue Mademoiselle
Relais du 15eme « Iran
Cera » -- restaurant – 78 avenue Emile Zola
On the web site
Iran
Beyond the News , the proprietor of Mazeh, Mr. Tavassoli, is reported to
have said that he selected the 15
th arrondissement for his
restaurant because “He followed the Iranian community who had settled in the
high towers of the Beaugrenelle district [known as the Front de Seine]. Iranians had bought estates there
with the money from the oil shock of 1973. The district was thus the first
point where Iranians landed in Paris after the 1979 revolution.” Mr. Tavassoli also says the Iranian
population in Paris is too small to sustain the Iranian businesses there; he
says, fortunately, “the French love our gastronomy, our warmth and hospitality.”
