EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is part of a new BurlingtonToday series — 'THIS IS BURLINGTON' — that showcases the people, places, organizations and businesses that make our city so special. Click HERE to read every story in the series, which will run throughout the month of November. This article originally ran on Nov. 23, 2023.
After graduating from university, Mohammad Emami wanted to open his own business.
Whenever he had friends over as a kid growing up in Dundas, they would love his mom’s cooking. Since there wasn’t much in the way of Persian food west of Toronto, providing a new type of cuisine for the community seemed like the perfect way to combine his mother’s culinary expertise with his father’s entrepreneurial spirit.
While searching for a location online, Mohammad came across Village Square and decided to drive there on the spot, dragging his dad along around midnight. The beautiful space caught their attention, although it was quite vacant at the time.
“Obviously, that doesn’t help when you’re trying to get traffic through the door, but it was something we believed in; sort of build it, and they will come. We thought the location matched the uniqueness of our product. We wanted to be a destination restaurant, and we are, to this day, a destination restaurant. We have people coming in from everywhere,” says Mohammad.
Since opening in 2011, Mohammad’s father, Mahmoud, has essentially become the face of Rayhoon Persian Eatery. “I never met a man who cares so much about the guests that come to the restaurant. People very much look forward to seeing him. Every time he’s not there, people ask where he is because they enjoy his company as much as the food,” says Mohammad.
Although not as involved day-to-day, Mohammad says his mother, Rohangiz Bagherian, has been the restaurant’s inspiration. “All the recipes are based on my mom’s recipes. She’s kind of the quality control. Every once in a while, she pops in and gives us some feedback to make sure we adhere to her quality and standards.”
Koobideh Kabob is typically the most popular dish at any Persian restaurant, and Rayhoon’s is made with ground beef brisket served with saffron-infused rice and a grilled tomato.
Mohammad says that Iranian people come to the restaurant for the grilled entrées because they’re harder to make at home, whereas people who aren’t familiar with Persian food tend to go with the stews.
“One of our most popular is the Ghalieh Mahi, a tilapia stew with herbs, garlic, and tamarind and one of my mom’s specialties. It’s from the south of Iran, where my
parents are from, and is my dad’s favourite.”
Persian food is presented in component form. Rayhoon’s servers are trained to explain to the customers how to get the most out of their meal because the sum of its parts can be greater than the individual items. For example, the right way to eat a grilled entrée with rice is to put the butter into your rice, chop up the grilled tomato, mix that into your rice as well, and add the grilled meat all in one spoonful. Not only does this make for a pleasing presentation, but it also
allows you to customize your meal.
“Sometimes when people aren’t familiar with Persian food, they’ll have the rice and meat on their own and say it’s good, but it’s not the end result we would want because even though the components are good, when they’re combined, they become amazing,” says Mohammad.
Pre-pandemic, Rayhoon featured a buffet and belly dancing event at 8 p.m. every third Friday of the month. It is being relaunched in November, giving people a chance to try different items on the menu.
“Our mission is pretty clear,” says Mohammad. “For people familiar with Persian food, we just want to give them a taste of back home—not only the food but the hospitality. And for people who aren’t, it’s to show them what the food and the hospitality are about. Learning about a culture through food can be very powerful.”
