Iranian Community in Nashville?

AILA’s 2012 Annual Conference on Immigration Law takes place June 13-16, 2012.  As the conference nears, the attention turns to our great host city, Nashville.  Ah, Nashville, the Capital of Country Music.  This solidly American city actually has  a rich immigrant fabric.  In particular, did you know that Nashville has an Iranian community?

Being half Iranian, I love it.  Of course, any group has to have its own Facebook profile.  You can access this link to find out about various Persian get togethers.  Of course, the big get-together is always the two week period marking the Iranian New Years in March.  The festivities generally begin with an event known as Chaharshanbesuri, at Edwin Warner park in the past, and end with a big picnic known as 13 Bedar.  People can meet up at various events using this Facebook profile.  

But, what about food?  Everyone (I mean, EVERYONE)  loves Iranian food.  Thankfully, Nashville has choices.  Here is the city search listing for Genie’s Persian Palace.  The featured review amusingly refers to ‘traditional Arabian music playing overhead’.  Gasp–Ferdowsi would have had a heart attack after reading that comment.  Aside from this, the reviews are all stellar.  Here are a couple of the comments:  1)  Best Ethnic Food in The Nashville Area. Period.  2)  Persian food is heaven!

Nashville used to have the Lazziz Persian Restaurant(now closed, apparently).  Here is a review of the restaurant by Kim Gentes.  Kim was impressed with his first visit to a Persian restaurant.  He writes, “the food was not what I expected.  I assumed it would be somewhat spicy and somewhat curry based.  Instead, it was lightly salted and spiced with a surprisingly accessible flavor.”  Will he return?  “Absolutely!  And with my sweetheart next time!  If you are a Nashville native, this is one little place to try…”  Hey Kim, once you go Persian, there is no other version!