Conflict Kitchen Uses Food to Bridge Divide

By Michael Machosky

Yet, for all that distance, there are some things we have in common. We all like sandwiches, right?

Conflict Kitchen is a takeout restaurant in East Liberty, recently begun by a group of Pittsburgh artists with the unusual idea of serving food from countries that don't get along with the United States. The plan is that every four months, the one-dish menu will feature a different country. Right now, the dish is kubideh, a kind of wrap/sandwich, ubiquitous on the streets of Iran. So, for now, it's called Kubideh Kitchen.

Next up, Afghanistan. After that, North Korea, perhaps?

"Initially, it's an introduction to a culture that Pittsburghers might not be familiar with," says Jon Rubin, 46, an assistant professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University, who started the project with partners Dawn Weleski, 29, and John Pena, 28. "In many ways, the history of a culture is embedded in its food."

A kubideh consists of spiced ground beef with fresh basil, mint and onion, wrapped in warm, chewy house-made Barbari flatbread with black sesame seeds. Everything is handmade from local ingredients, including flour from St. Vincent Gristmill in Latrobe, and herbs from Weleski's garden in Wilkinsburg.

"The food really respresents two cultures, Iran and also Pittsburgh," Weleski says.

Each kubideh comes in a colorful, bright blue-and-yellow pattern wrapper. When unfolded, one side is covered with information about Iran, and opinions from Iranians in Pittsburgh and in Iran.

There are small essays about bread, Persian poetry and how women's fashions in Tehran subtly mock the government-sanctioned dress code. Others address more difficult issues, like women's rights, opinions of the Iranian nuclear program, and the Green Movement that has openly challenged and protested the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Waffle Shop to Kubideh Kitchen

For the past two years, the same group of artists has run the Waffle Shop next door -- another combined restaurant and art project, run by students, that serves late-night revelers while inviting them to participate in a "talk show," broadcast live online at waffleshop.org every weekend.

"The mission at the Waffle Shop is to catalyze public conversation," Rubin says. "We think of it as an online documentary about the people in the neighborhood."

East Liberty long has been a crossroads, with people from all walks of live passing through -- making it an ideal location for the project.

The takeout window is directly connected to the Waffle Shop's kitchen. While trying to decide what to do with it, they kicked around the idea of selling really unfamiliar ethnic foods, which led to consideration of countries that have had troubled histories with the United States.

Iran seemed like an obvious place to start.

"Jon has a couple of friends in Iran, and we knew there was a sizable Iranian population in Pittsburgh," Weleski says. "The project also has helped identify this community for us."

With their input, kubideh was chosen as Conflict Kitchen's first dish. An Iranian-born robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon, Illah Nourbakhsh, helped them with the recipe until they got it right. He also advised on the takeout window's design -- a bright blue-and-gold, geometrically patterned facade, with Farsi inscriptions.

For $5, customers get a small taste of Iranian cuisine and culture.

"It's not about war or government policies," Rubin says. "It's about trying to understand the daily life of people. Ultimately, this could be a great opportunity to introduce folks from Pittsburgh to cultures they might only know about through very polarized presentations in the media."

Rubin says he recently saw a Japanese Buddhist and a Muslim waiting in line for kubideh together, who struck up conversation about prayer, and how food is used in their cultures.

A Sprout Fund grant got the project started, and the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon pays rent for the Waffle Shop and Conflict Kitchen. The staff mostly is students.

"At this point, it's funded by people buying sandwiches," Rubin says. "We tend to put every dollar back into programming and future productions."

A number of special events are planned for each incarnation of Conflict Kitchen. June 5, they hosted a full, multicourse meal at the Waffle Shop, joined via live webcam with a dinner in Tehran, Iran. Over lamb kebabs and chicken stew with pomegranates and walnuts, diners chatted with a group of Iranians eating the same thing. Despite their governments' history of distrust and antagonism, they talked about everything from pop music to dating -- and found that they had some things in common.

"There were two women (one in Iran, one in Pittsburgh) who talked about going to college for fashion design, and not being able to do it for a living," Weleski says.

Already, Conflict Kitchen seems to be getting attention from all over.

"We've been open three weekends, and people in Boston, Brooklyn and other places are already asking if they can franchise this," Rubin says. "A woman e-mailed, saying that she was inspired to have a 'conflict kitchen' dinner every week with her family. Her 7-year-old suggested starting with China."

Still, most of the attention comes from casual passersby. The familiarity of the takeout window concept seems to make trying a kubideh a little less strange.

"One guy came over looking for a hamburger," Rubin says. "He initially didn't get it . (We explained) 'Hey, it's ground beef, it's tasty.' "