Hoss Zare
He was 22 when his father urged him to leave Iran. It was 1985 and the effects of the Islamic Revolution were still ravaging the country. Zare had survived the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War, and Dad knew there was no future for his bright son in Iran. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the revolution, which sent between 2 and 4 million Iranians like Zare fleeing in waves, searching for a better life. The milestone makes this year’s Persian New Year, or No-Rouz, particularly poignant. No-Rouz is celebrated on the spring equinox, a time for renewal and new beginnings. And for Zare and three others in the culinary world — Arash Ghasemi, Aisan Hoss and Mehdi Parnia — that fresh start came through food.
