Darouse

The other Saturday I was running around trying to catch up to all the shopping's and cleaning that got piled up during the week, when I saw a new sushi place that opened up in the area. Being a huge fan of sushi I decided to give it a try. The place was very nice designed with flat screen TVs that were programed to show sport channels, when I walked in I noticed that I way the only customer at time of the day (it was 3:00pm) on a Saturday. I sat at the bar and ordered two fancy rolls, the chef took my order and started prepping. I'm not sure if any one has watched a sushi chef when they are prepping sushi, but its very much like a painter who has found a subject to paint, they have so much focus and so care full that all the pieces are in perfect position. After the chef was done creating his art work, he passed a plate with two beautiful sushi rolls, well designed with sauces spread like modern painting around the rolls. I started eating with a mix of joy and respect and between bites watching the NCAA basketball game and then it hit me, I am an Iranian guy in northern California, eating sushi and watching Basketball. There was some thing that told me this whole combination is just wrong, and yet very comforting. You have to realize sushi and typical Iranian diet are as far apart as the two countries themselves, but I have yet to meet an Iranian person around my age in US who doesn't like sushi, and I have seen many Asian people going to Iranian restaurants and they seem to enjoy it. So how is it that two cultures without any thing in common, different languages and complete different fundamentals in philosophy, art, social behavior and politics can find comfort in each other's diet? That maybe a mystery, and as I was eating my beautiful and very tasty rolls I wondered if a Japanese person sitting in an Iranian restaurant some where in bay area would ask him/herself the same question? I can't ever know if it will happen but I can hope that if does he/she enjoys her Iranian dish as much as I enjoyed the sushi and who knows maybe some day we could use this simple pleasure as a bridge to connect our countries in more human way