THE ZAYTOON WAY
Where other places take shortcuts, at Zaytoon we make our own way…
It’s the right way for Irish food producers
- because all of our meat, poultry, fish and vegetables are sourced from premium Irish suppliers.
It’s the right way for you and your family
- because our food is fresh, healthy, nutritionally balanced and never frozen or fried.
It’s the right way for the planet
- because all of our packaging is environmentally friendly and fully biodegradable.
Noosh-e-jan! (Bon Appetit!)
About the owners
Business partners, best friends and fellow Iranians Jamshid Kamvar and Azad Shirazi came to Ireland in the late seventies, with backgrounds in engineering and cheffing. Their first success was not in the food industry but with their business selling fine Persian carpets from their Dame St store. The first restaurant venture together came in 1996 with the opening of Café Topolis, a (still) bustling Italian trattoria on Dublin’s Parliament St. Zaytoon was, and still remains a passion project for its fiercely proud owners. The two wanted to do justice to the humble Kebab and to shift perceptions regarding this mainstay of Persian Cuisine. By insisting on quality and freshness they succeeded in elevating the dish from ‘after pub fare’, offering a nutritious product and reproducing the vibrant, exotic flavours of their Iranian homeland. The Camden St branch followed in 2005.
Now the partners have embarked on their most ambitious project to date - a reinvention of the Zaytoon brand with an expanded menu that reflects the amazing breadth and depth of Persian cuisine. Bold expansion plans are also underway for 2019 and beyond. Look out for a new Zaytoon coming to a neighbourhood near you…
PERSIAN CUISINE
Our signature charcoal-grilled kebabs are just the beginning of the Zaytoon experience. We invite you to explore the wider delights of the Persian kitchen. The concept of balance is central to the ancient cuisine of Persia, both in terms of nutrition and flavour profile.
Characterised by a profusion of fresh herbs, delicate stings of spice and the sensual perfume of saffron, this is a noble food tradition that tends toward a celebration of plant based dishes, making it a natural fit for both vegetarians and vegans. No reverse engineering is necessary. Join us to celebrate a modern approach to an ancient cuisine.
SAFFRON - THE SPICE OF LIFE
Prized for its sublime flavour, delicate fragrance and warm, luminous hue the history of Saffron cultivation spans more than three millennia. The stigmas and styles of the Crocus Sativus flower are still picked and sorted by hand, with 150 flowers harvested to yield just one precious gram. These scarlet threads are truly worth their weight in gold, making Saffron the world’s most expensive spice. Over 90% of all Saffron is produced in Iran. Ours is sourced from the Khorasan region at the Afghan border and is some of the finest in the world. We are Ireland’s biggest importers of this pride of Persia…