For many communities around the world, the profound seasonal shift from winter to spring officially marks the start of a new year. The festival of Nowruz has been celebrated in Iran for millennia, beginning on the vernal equinox and stretching across the sizdah bedar, a thirteen day period in which families and friends gather and feast to celebrate the earth’s annual regeneration. A few days ahead of the holiday, we caught up with the culinary producer and food stylist Shauna Saneinejad aka Joon Eats, who for the second year in a row was co-hosting a Nowruz dinner at SAA in Brooklyn. Read on for her favorite holiday memories, an Iranian-inspired love of drama, and how she brings her unique diasporic perspective to the haft seen display and dinner table alike.

Jake Stavis: I know you worked on a Nowruz event at SAA last year - what was the vision behind this year’s celebration?

Shauna Saneinejad: I wanted to collaborate with other Iranian artists like Lauren Nikrooz, someone I've watched for a while in terms of her set and production design - it felt really fitting to bring her in to help create this world. I wanted to lean into other people's visions of Nowruz, and how they hosted growing up. There are so many commonalities – everyone has the fruit bowl, everyone has the cheese – but also just seeing what else is out there. Her dad is from Isfahan, the same city where my dad's from. It's famous for the arts and textiles. Lauren is actually Jewish Iranian. My Iranian side is Muslim, but I'm also German Jewish, so I like having this play in different backgrounds coming together, integrating modes of celebration that her family maybe did a little differently but were from the same place.

JS: I've noticed you've been saying Iranian and not Persian. Many people don't often realize that Iran is a very multiethnic and diverse society. It is interesting to see how there are those commonalities and at the same time, significant variety in a country that many Americans have a very skewed view of.

SS: Yes, definitely. I do use the term Iranian more. I grew up in the Bay Area in a neighborhood that didn’t have so many Iranians. But I think when you're from a more Persian centric neighborhood - there are many in LA for example - they are maybe more apt to say Persian.

JS: Let's zoom out and start with Nowruz for you growing up. What are some of your earliest memories of this holiday?

SS: My mom met my dad in Iran. They have a whole long beautiful story, but they raised me in a very non-religious household. Nowruz was really special because it was my moment to get close to being Iranian – I’ve never been able to visit. We had parties and things like that, but I think about the rituals like the haft seen, the seven S-word symbolic objects we set out for a new year with good health, wealth and more. It was fun for me to be able to tap into that and watch my mom participate. I remember helping her collect all the things to make the haft seen. She isn’t Iranian but she’s very creative and loves beauty, but this was really her thing. She always grew the hyacinth (sonbol). She would grow it from a bulb, starting a month or so out, and she would save them from year to year because they regrow. My favorite part was going to the fish store to pick out the goldfish. The other exciting part is the food; my dad is an amazing cook, and I've learned a lot of what I do from him. Everybody says their parents make the best food, but I really think he is a king. I would help him or my Mamanjoon (grandma) prep - she would come from Iran. They would have me do all the appetizers because that's something easy for a little girl to do. I would make the yogurts and the Shirazi salad and they would do all the heavy rice, stews and kabobs. I loved the weeks building up to this time, when all my family would come over to hang out and eat and have a great time.

JS: Did you also celebrate Rosh Hashanah?

SS: We don’t actually - it’s interesting, my mom is German Jewish from blood, but when my grandparents moved fleeing the war, my grandpa ended up raising them Catholic. We celebrate Hanukkah with very close family friends that are Jewish. But everything would lean more into my Iranian side than I think because that wasn't “religious” in the strictest sense.

JS: And I'm just thinking about Nowruz – maybe we should just be explicit and explain it marks the new year in the traditional Iranian calendar.

SS: And also others, like the Afghani calendar.

JS: Yes for sure - for the Kurds, Tajiks, Uzbeks - there's lots of different varieties across Central and South Asia, but it's looking at this calendar and recognizing phenomena that are celestial and agricultural. There's a lot of theories about why it happens when it happens. But to your point, it’s maybe less spiritual and more a time where the community comes together to do certain things to feed each other.

SS: It’s about getting ready for spring. Here, we celebrate New Years in the dead of winter. In California it’s a little different, but in New York we sit cold in our house and then head into three months of darkness. The second March begins, my friends - especially non Iranian friends - start asking what is happening for Nowruz. And as that happens, the clock changes and then you start to see the bulbs in the ground outside start to come out, and it just really feels like the start of something new.

JS: It feels less forced. Something is clearly happening.

SS: You can see it.

JS: Let's talk a little bit more about haft seen. I remember reading at that the haft seen are not actually the same everywhere you go. There are more S-words. It's kind of debated which ones are the core seven, so I'm curious about your experience. You said your mom grew the sanbol.

SS: Yes, the hyacinth. The hyacinth, sonbol is always regrowing It’s a physical representation of spring, but for me the core ones were the sabzeh - it can be wheat grass or it can be lentils, which my mom would grow. Mine are currently sitting in a wet cloth waiting to grow. That's kind of the first step, and it represents rebirth. Seeb is apple. I don't speak Farsi, but since I was a little girl I always knew seeb. Apples are also symbolic of beauty. Garlic, seer, is another one I always remember, because like with vampires, it wards off the evil eye and brings good health. Then there's the vinegar, sirkeh. Iranians actually drink vinegar when they're sick. It also represents just getting through difficult times and patience. Senjed or silverberry is similar to a date but it's kind of harder - it's a symbol of love. Then there are coins, sekeh, to represent prosperity. That’s also a big part that I actually forgot about growing up; parents give kids money on Nowruz. And there’s sumac, which represents sunrise and the triumph of good over evil. So those are the main seven I would say for me - the sonbol is kind of the extra. The goldfish brings movement to the table, another representation of abundant life.

JS: Where did the haft seen live when you were growing up? Do you have one in your apartment now?

SS: We had a sideboard growing up and - my mom would put a tablecloth on it, and the items would sit there for the month. I have a nice mantle in my living room that actually has a mirror on the back, which makes my display easily cute

JS: I’m thinking about how this might tie into your practice as a food stylist, but if I Google haft seen, I'm going to get a very particular aesthetic… lets call it Tehrangeles grandma…

SS: Iranians can for sure lean in to gaudiness when it comes to design and decor. But there are also versions that are super traditional. I feel like it's a diaspora thing, trying to keep textiles and heirlooms alive in their set and style. For me, I like to go traditional in the root of the dishes and the food, but then I like to play into a modern artistic way of just making things more… I don't know if the word “accessible” is right, but I'm just going into this new path where Iranian traditions can venture into almost like modern art. My haft seen today is just like beautiful dishes that I found over the years, as well as props that I’ve accumulated; it doesn't always have the patterned cloth and gold candlesticks.

JS: I think accessible is a nice description for your approach - it's like, what's the version that I can do as someone who's living in the diaspora who maybe has a different connection to this place but still appreciates the roots of the practice?

SS: I've never been to Iran but feel so connected to it from what I have learned from my family. I really am an experience based learner. My practice as a chef stems from my heritage, but also from my experience in a the set design space, having worked on photo shoots and styling. Especially being half Iranian, I can kind of formulate my own version of the culture based on how I grew up with it and my interests outside of it.

JS: I'm curious, if we can get into the very practical elements of taking what you've learned from photo shoots: What are some fundamental tenets of your practice that you bring to the haft seen - whether it concerns texture, height, like all these sorts of approaches.

SS: You stole all my words. Leading question! But I think light is very important. Light and also backdrop – whether I'm thinking in terms of a haft seen or set – what is it that you're using to create the color and light that will illuminate the objects? Do I want to use props to create something super dramatic or do I want it to be very monochromatic and minimal? I love drama and maybe that's the Iranian side of me. For instance this silly little tower I have (Shauna gestures to an elaborate stack of tableware behind her), sometimes I just get bored and play around with things. I challenge myself to make something dramatic but maybe still minimal in a way.

JS: I think that's actually a very telling example that you have sitting behind you.

SS: That just came out when I was doing my supper club, Joon Dinners. I just wanted the mezze hour to be a little bit more interactive and fun. Last year everything was using Iranian tools like kabob sticks in different formats not holding a kabob. Instead it's holding a salad. And so this year for my supper club dinners, I decided to just play off the idea that when you throw a big dinner party, the image of dishes you have to wash is just a big pile.

JS: Let’s talk a little bit about Joon Eats and the evolution of that.

SS: I thought maybe I would own a restaurant one day. I was managing a restaurant when the pandemic hit, which made me realize I needed to figure out what to do with food that wasn’t owning a restaurant. I moved to New York and I got into the set and photo world - initially cooking was just a side project, but after people started to show interest I decided why not go for it; if I put the same effort into myself that I had put into other jobs I had, what might happen? Joon is a very common term of endearment in Farsi - Shauna Joon, Jake Joon, it's just how we say darling. And it means life. I decided it was a great four letter word for a logo. To me food is life. My two backgrounds, German Jewish and Iranian Muslim, both are very food centric and I learned that act of dinner parties through both cultures. Even though I lean more into the Iranian food; German food is good but it's like…

JS: Listen, as someone who is is Ashkenazi and knows a lot about Iranian food, you don't have to make this qualification to me.

SS: A lot of my food shows that these cultures are more similar than different and that when we take the time to get to know each other and sit with each other, we'll learn that about ourselves. and we can live together. All of that lives within Joon - I do food styling, I do events for brands, and I do events for clients, but I always try to have the ethos and the story of everybody please remember that we get along, we love food, we love each other and can live together in a very happy space.

JS: I want to talk more about the mezze table - you created a beautiful version for our event with J.Crew and Maryam Nassir Zadeh. Would you say it's a Joon Eats signature?

SS: I would say it's something I'm trying to push more as a signature. It’s a format that allows me to be playful, but also for clients, it's very palatable for New York. And it’s something I can do in a space that might not have a kitchen, so it's also just strategic. The mezze table is a reference to Persian celebrations that often start with sabzi khordan, which is essentially a platter with a big chunk of cheese and herbs. But because I live in this world of wanting to be dramatic and artful, the feta is actually kind of like a clay I can play with or sculpt. So I'm just like, what are different playful ways I can use the feta and the bread and all these different aspects to create something grand. I can take Persian dishes and other appetizers and build them into the space and create an elaborate table that's beautiful yet super edible and filling. I'm very much about making sure people are full.

JS: There are a lot of iterations on the grazing table these days, some of which can include an abundance of pink lettuce - that might photograph really well but I’m not sure I want to go to that party. I think it's a difficult balance, trying to create something that is beautiful, filling, and also not wasteful. I'm curious about the afterlife of the sabzi on the Joon Eats mezze table.

SS: Generally it's destroyed. But it’s nice because it's something that can sit out for a whole party and people can go back to and break into it.

JS: When it comes to party food, there's a balance between seeking the drama of a composed table and then just letting your guests have at it. Like, not getting so precious saying okay, we must reorder the grapes or re-smooth the dips or what have you. Just like, let her cook.

SS: I often take after photos and it's always actually pretty cool. And it's funny at the start I’ll usually ask a friend or an assistant to just like go eat it just so people realize they can get into it.

JS: Right, like we need to remind them the photo is not the only reason for this, there's actually another important component here.

SS: A good hack that I learned actually is to not put the plates out until you feel like most of the room is there. That gives them their photo time and allows for other people to see it before it gets destroyed. And then when the plates get dropped, they're like, "okay. This is actually for us to eat.”

JS: Smart. To close it out, can you give me a menu rundown for dinner?

SS: Sure! So many traditional Nowruz dishes (and many Iranian dishes for that matter) use lots of sabzi, meaning herbs. The freshness balances out the heavy stews and meaty kabobs, and most Iranian tables have a bowl of different herbs as a side dish to each meal. The sabzi khordan usually contains some mix of mint, dill, parsley, green onion, or basil. For this event, instead of serving traditional dishes like kuku sabzi or sabzi polo ba mahi - which often contain multiple herbs - I decided to design the menu to highlight each sabzi on its own.

My sabzi khordan highlighting mint (nana) was integrated into tablescape, including feta cheese cakes with a pool of mint oil, fresh mint and walnuts, laid on the table for guests to grab and enjoy with bread.

I wanted to showcase cilantro (gishniz) in two ways, the fresh leaf and the seed (coriander) with dried persian lime - I incorporated these into a dish with Persian cucumbers, which are are often served whole, on the fruit platter or sabzi khordan.

I wanted to incorporate fresh parsley (jafari) as a nod to the freshness of spring. Mahi (fish) is the main dish for Nowruz, so I decided to create a “salsa sabzi” with preserved lemon and a lot of fresh parsley, balanced with orange and castelvetrano olives.

My use of chives (piyazcheh) is where true tradition comes in. I made koobideh kabob, the king of kabobs and a dish that I learned from my father. It’s not an Iranian fan favorite and a symbol of how much of my brand and food style comes from my father. I don't get to put it on menus often, because most venues don't have a grill, so this was very special. The Joon Eats twist was adding chive to the kabob mix - simple but new.

Dill (shevid) in rice is my favorite use of dill, ever. I add golden raisins to bring a bit of dimension and I love how the they complement the meat.

To finish we’ll highlight basil (reyhan). I'm not a big sweets person so my desserts often lean savory. Basil infused whip cream with pistachio, layered between filo, and dressed in kumquat honey adds just enough sweetness to make it dessert.