Gallery: Editors’ Preview Night at Rumi’s New Home

It’s been an exciting year for Joseph Abboud’s iconic Middle Eastern restaurant Rumi. Abboud just published his debut cookbook – full of the restaurant’s signature dishes – and has moved Rumi to a new location for the first time in 17 years.

Last Thursday, Rumi invited Broadsheet Access members into its new home before it opened to the public. Members were treated to four generous courses, with standout dishes including crispy cigars filled with haloumi, feta and kasseri; Persian meatballs cooked in tomato and saffron with labne; and a fall-off-the-bone marinated lamb shoulder lathered in a Middle Eastern-style salsa verde.

Between courses, we heard from Abboud in conversation with Broadsheet ’s national editor Michael Harry. They spoke about the secret to perfectly cooked lamb shoulder being the cooking time (a minimum of six hours and a maximum of twelve) and plenty of salt and pepper; why Rumi belongs in Brunswick; and how the cookbook equally caters “for the people making the food” and reflects Abboud’s own passion for cooking and sharing.