I’ve been parked at my desk for the last several weeks working on the new cookbook, so I’m excited to be with real live people at my upcoming dinner party on Sunday August 12.

I’ll be serving dishes from the upcoming cookbook, like the meatballs above, which is great because I’ll get to see how people receive the new recipes. I hope everyone loves them as much as I do! Here’s what’s on the menu:

Menu, Sunday August 12

Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Lime and Mint (Salad Shirazi)

Meatball (Kofteh) or Potato/Mushroom Fritter (Cotlet) sandwiches

Herb, Cheese, & Bread Platter (Sabzi Khordan)

Rice Pudding with Rosewater & Cardamom (Sholeh Zard)

Persian Rose tea from Tay Tea, and wine from Terra Fossil

After dinner, we’ll be showing a sweet Iranian film called The Fish Fall in Love (Mahiha Ashegh Mishavand). It’s a romance, and much of the action takes place in a restaurant run by a beautiful lady chef! I love this film because it really gets across the sensuous nature of Persian food.

I’m throwing this party with my friends at the new start-up Zokos, aka “Kickstarter for dinner parties.” The way it works is that you RSVP to the dinner via PayPal, but you only get charged for the dinner if the required number of guests sign up. The dinner will be held in the stunning Zokos workspace on Allen Street in the Lower East Side. Based on my sold-out Norooz dinner at Jimmy’s No. 43 back in March, I think we’ll get a good turn-out, so sign up while there are still tickets!

Persian Dinner & a Movie, with Zokos, Sunday August 12, 6 pm, 72 Allen St., 3rd floor, NY, NY, 10002. Info + RSVP