Social Enterprise Persian Cafe

On Sunday, April the 16th, chef Hamed Allahyari generously shouted me to one of his signature dishes: Mirza Ghasemi. The closest Western food to this Persian dish would be eggplant dip. The part I’m eating is filmed by Hamed, which looks good, I think. So, he can also be a successful videographer. We chatted in Farsi, which felt right to both of us.

Trying a popular Persian dish.

Upon arrival, Hamed applied to more than 60 jobs in the hospitality sector. Only one of them offered him a position and it was dish washing. Hamed decided to work as a volunteer at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. He was in charge of the kitchen and he would cook Persian food. Later, he ran Persian cooking classes at Free to Feed. In 2019, he started this cafe and restaurant as a social enterprise to give job opportunities to those who are new to Melbourne. Last year, his cookbook was released, not only in Australia but also in New Zealand, Europe and the United States. He says:

‘I can hold my head up high and say, I’m the best Iranian chef in Australia. I’m looking for competition too! Those who said no to me, said no to themselves because I was a good chef. That’s why this cafe is a social enterprise.’ 

You can also see the full video on the Not-For-Profit Videos Page.