"If you hadn't known to order all these interesting things, I would have just asked for my usuals." A non-Iranian dinner guest said that to Bill Addison at the end of a meal at Perse, and Addison put the line near the center of his Los Angeles Times review, published Oct. 8.
Perse sits on the third floor of Brentwood Gardens at 11677 San Vicente Blvd. The Times review called it seven months old. Many neighbors have already eaten there. The review makes the case that the kitchen's regional cooking rewards a second visit with a specific order in mind. On this stretch of San Vicente, the newest food is the easiest to read. The most rewarding food on the block takes knowing what to ask for.
Where the Menu Goes Quiet
Addison's example is two words: "Market Fish." It sits two-thirds of the way down a list of 14 entrees, next to saffron lamb chops and fesenjoon with duck confit. Its only description is "Northern style walnut barberry sauce." He called it the most exciting plate on the table. It comes as a turmeric-stained fillet over a stuffing of crushed walnuts, barberries, garlic, pomegranate molasses and mixed herbs, with beurre blanc pooled at the base of the bowl.
That dish comes from co-owner Farinaz "Naz" Pirshirazi's own background. She was born in Tehran, but northern Iranian cooking was a staple of her childhood. Her mother learned it from women in Sari, a small city near the Caspian coast, where the family lived for most of the 1980s. Pirshirazi traveled widely in Iran before moving to the United States in 2011. With her brother Farbod, she also founded Toranj in Westwood, which opened a second location in Manhattan Beach last December. Toranj sticks to the familiar Persian repertoire. Perse is where she cooks the regional dishes.
Addison credits the service as attentive and well informed, and he describes Pirshirazi as the restaurant's educator, the person who walks diners toward its regional specialties. The list below gives any table that starting point.
A Dinner Order, Built From the Review
The Times lists its recommended dinner dishes at the end of the review. Here they are, in roughly the order a table would eat them, with Addison's notes where he gave them:
- Shirazi, the one familiar dish on the critic's list.
- Beef cheek tahchin.
- Kebab torsh, which uses filet mignon instead of the poultry most restaurants use, marinated in pomegranate and walnut. Addison found the beef gives the pairing a more savory edge.
- Bazari koobideh, ground beef and lamb served with a saffron-yolk sauce. It's based on an old Tehran custom of stirring raw yolk and butter into the rice next to a kebab until it turns creamy, as with carbonara.
- The "Market Fish," ordered on purpose this time.
- The seasonal khoresh, the stew that changes with the produce.
The khoresh is the reason to go in October. When Addison visited, the kitchen was serving a late-summer version: short rib under eggplant spears and tomato sauce, with sour grapes that look like green olives. He reported that the menu would soon change to khoresh kadoo, made with winter squash, saffron and dried fruit. A dinner this month may land on either one.
At the bar, Pirshirazi makes themed cocktails. The review mentions one called "Fall in Tehran," made with bourbon, pomegranate, saffron-infused honey and bitters. For a zero-proof drink, Addison singled out the sharbat called "Barberry Elixire," a tart one flavored with apricot and plum fruit leather.
The Times lists these prices: dinner small plates $15 to $30, sharable entrees $30 to $74 and desserts $12 to $18. Dinner runs nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. and lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Street parking and valet under the building are both available.
The Weekend Brunch the Critic Found Quiet
The same advice holds at brunch. Eggs Benedict with saffron hollandaise, Turkish eggs poached in yogurt and shakshuka all appear on the menu, and Addison names the star as a date omelet that draws on the date harvest of southern Iran. The dates are gently smoked and lightly scented with cinnamon, and the dish lands between sweet and savory.
He adds a saffron-scented Dutch baby pancake and kookoo sibzamini, lacy-crisp patties of herbed potato and egg. The dining room was still during his Sunday visit, and he called it "the most under-sung brunch in Los Angeles." Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with entrees from $22 to $40.
Across the Street, a Menu That Reads the Same Everywhere
Burger She Wrote opened at 11686 San Vicente Blvd. on Oct. 3, almost directly across from Perse. Beverly Press reported that this is the brand's third and largest location. It follows a Sherman Oaks opening in May and the original on Beverly Boulevard, with Silver Lake and Manhattan Beach still to come. Brentwood News placed it between Barrington and Darlington.
On the restaurant's own location page, Brentwood has the same menu as Fairfax and Sherman Oaks. The main item is the Oklahoma Burger: Snake River Farms American wagyu, onions and a King's Hawaiian bun. The menu also has classic and Impossible smashburgers, grilled cheese, fries and house-made sauces. The listed hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Since the brand is new to the block, it's worth confirming those hours before a late visit.
Co-founder Don "Nuge" Nguyen, a professional skateboarder and designer, explained the idea to Beverly Press: "At the end of the day, it's just a burger restaurant, but I want guests to leave thinking it was a great one." A first visit there can start and end with the Oklahoma Burger, and the posted hours give the block a dinner option until 11 p.m. on weekends.
The Former Ron Herman Space, Still Waiting
The next opening at Brentwood Gardens will go into the former Ron Herman space at 11677 San Vicente, below Perse. WhatNow reported on Oct. 1 that Sacco, a sandwich-and-coffee concept from Giuseppe Sacco, is scheduled to open in "Winter 2026." No day or month has been announced. Sacco co-founded the luxury fashion marketplace Italist and left the company in 2025. According to the press release WhatNow cited, the concept draws on his Sicilian heritage and on years spent between Milan, New York, Paris and Los Angeles.
So far, the plan calls for sandwiches as the core, coffee from breakfast through the afternoon and a small selection of salads. A line called Sacco Editions will offer objects and design collaborations. It will share the building with Cafe Landwer, Club Pilates, Ospi and Drybar. More menu details are expected closer to opening, so for now the "Winter 2026" timing is the only firm detail.
Two Weeks After the Bash, and the Rest of October
The block's last big public day came before Burger She Wrote opened. The first Brentwood Bash took over the eastbound side of San Vicente between Montana and South Barrington avenues on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alexis Pappas and Carolyn Jordan created and produced it with Barbara Roll, in partnership with Councilwoman Traci Park and Council District 11. In an interview with Brentwood Voice, published before the event, the organizers said they hoped it would become an annual tradition.
For the rest of the month, the busiest calendar nearby belongs to the Brentwood Country Mart:
- Pumpkin Patch: the honor-system patch of heirloom pumpkins runs through Oct. 31.
- Oct. 16, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: the Poppy x Sugar Paper Holiday Styling Event, with 20% off Sugar Paper holiday cards.
- Movie nights, 6 to 8 p.m.: Finding Nemo on Oct. 16, then Finding Dory on Oct. 23 and Coco on Oct. 30.
- Oct. 20 and 21: an FFORME trunk show at Capitol Brentwood.
- Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: the Halloween Spectacular, starting with an 11 a.m. costume contest and followed by trick-or-treating.
October brunch at Perse runs Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the date omelet is the dish the critic named first.
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