Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen Helps Locals Learn About “Enemy” Countries

With a restaurant that serves dishes from countries the U.S. is in conflict with, Conflict Kitchen aims to help people understand other cultures' perspectives through food.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on June 07 2010

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Most of the news we hear about Iran has to do with its nuclear weapons and terrorist groups. But if you ever sat down for a meal with someone from Iran, you might find a far more complex understanding of the culture—and an appreciation for the fantastic food.

One of Iran’s trademark dishes is kubideh, a sandwich made from barbari bread, ground beef, onion, mint, and basil. And now, it’s the $5 special at Pittsburgh’s newly opened Kubideh Kitchen, a project of Conflict Kitchen.

Conflict Kitchen, created by artists Jon Pena, Jon Rubin, and Dawn Weleski, is a new take-out restaurant that serves food only from countries that the U.S. is in conflict with.

The restaurant’s theme came about as a joke, Weleski told AOL News. “We were joking about the worst business models, like selling food from countries like North Korea or other places the United States is in conflict with, and immediately we thought, no this is actually brilliant.”

The name of the restaurant will change with each new food item and country theme. The food stands serve just one dish, but are intended to spark a broader conversation about the countries the food comes from.

Before opening Kubideh Kitchen, the artists worked with Pittsburgh’s Iranian community to explore the country’s culture, and designed a food wrapper that features information about Iran’s rich history, showing that the country is far more than what you might read about in the newspaper.

Although the restaurant’s only been open a short time, the venture is already a huge success: the stand has expanded from two days to seven days of operation, and, even more important than the food, it provides a space for people of different viewpoints to discuss America’s relationship with Iran.

“The takeout window has become a space where patrons from all over Pittsburgh have come to discuss religion, daily ritual, politics, and cultural differences and similarities, all initiated through food,” said Weleski.

Check out the restaurant’s website at Kubidehkitchen.com.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Non-Profits,

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