First Look: Old Meets New at Darband 2.0, a Family-Run Persian Dining Room in Auburn

“Dad was very stern about not changing the menu. He’s old school – you come here to eat Persian food, it’s just about it tasting delicious.”

Naseem Hemmati is talking about the new Darband, the follow-up to the restaurant her dad Morteza opened in Auburn in 2005. Over his two decades of feeding Sydney homely Persian dishes, not much changed. And that’s what people wanted. But Naseem and her brother Hasan convinced their parents to let them guide Darband into its next decade – in a space just around the corner.

“I want you to feel like you are coming to our home,” Naseem says. “Like you are dining with your uncle and your aunty, or your grandmother. [But we] can’t switch it up too much, because people have been going here for 20 years – even just the small changes, people are like ‘Oh, this is different’.”

Trips to flea markets in Iran and local op shops are behind a lot of the charm. You’ll spy a funky retro clock, radio and record player in different corners of the long room, with framed cigarette packets, watches, photos and posters on the walls. “I wanted it to feel nostalgic [for our longtime regulars].”

Morteza is still in the kitchen, now joined by Hasan. And their mum Elham Tabii helps out wherever she’s needed. Kebabs off the grill are still juicy and smoky. Lamb arrives as koobideh (mince), barg (backstrap), or fillets; chicken thighs are marinated in lemon. The Darband special – a mixed kebab plate – will never leave the menu. Generous piles of saffron rice are still studded with barberries, or dotted with broad beans and herbed up with dill. Yellow knobs of butter melt into the grains, shakers of sumac at the ready on every table. Then there’s the ghormeh sabzi.

“That recipe hasn’t changed once, my grandmother taught my dad how to make [it] 20 years ago, over the phone,” Naseem says. “It’s a mixed herb stew with red kidney beans, lamb and dried lemons. I would say it is the national dish of Iran. I’m sure some people would argue it’s the chelow kebab, but ghormeh sabzi is a staple in everyone’s house – you’re probably eating this once a week. It just feels like home.” 

The menu additions are regulars in the Hemmati home: chicken wing kebabs, lamb cutlets, Iranian olives dressed in pomegranate molasses, and torshi (pickled veggies). “Just small things to round it out and make sure we are covering all the different parts of Iranian cuisine.”

Darband’s evolution was spurred by a visit to London’s Berangak, a Persian restaurant with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. “It felt equal parts traditional and modern, and that was something Sydney was lacking,” Naseem says. “It changed my perspective on what Persian dining could be.”

The floor and kitchen teams have journeyed to the new space, and Naseem is getting used to the hospitality lifestyle. “I did my first shift as a waitress four weeks ago. My background is in marketing, so this has definitely been a change of pace – a very hard one, if I’m honest with you. The yapping part has been good. It’s the standing on your feet for 11 hours straight that was a shock to the system.”

In the warm light of the new 100-seater space, meals are finished with golden saffron tea and bastani sonati. Pastel yellow stacks of the house-made saffron ice-cream arrive topped with crushed pistachios – a sweet fixture years ago, now it’s back. “My mum has helped,” Naseem says. “[Dad] won’t admit that, but there are a few things on the menu that are my mum’s recipe. This one is Dad’s, though. This one he can take full credit for.”

Darband
Shop 3/28B Northumberland Road, Auburn
(02) 9667 1730

Hours:
Mon to Sat 11am–9.30pm
Sun 11am–9pm

darbandrestaurant.com.au
@darband.syd