Azra brings Afghan hospitality to Leyton's railway arches

Azra brings Afghan hospitality to Leyton's railway arches

Melt-in-the-mouth mantu, plant-based options, and a lamb kabuli pulao that takes hours to prepare anchor the menu at Azra, tucked into Tilbury Road's railway arches. It's a family affair: owner Waheed Kazemi is launching alongside brother Rohullah, sister Zohra, and their mother and head chef Sakeenah. The 40-capacity interior draws from the mehman khanah — "the guest room in many Afghan homes" — and the kitchen team is entirely women.

Gobble's Take: Room, menu, and mission are all quietly competing to be the most impressive thing about this place. It's a tight race. Source: Perplexity Search (community news)

Razava's bagels, porridge bread, and the $23 entrée nobody mentions anymore

The Heavy Table's Tap newsletter digs into Razava's new-school bagels and its remarkable porridge bread, with a side investigation into watermelon jerky. The author also reflects on a growing home-cooking practice — roasting Ethiopian beans, making cherry pancake topping from backyard fruit, and curing and smoking homemade bacon — noting that rising restaurant prices, indifferent service, and food that appears to come from plastic bags are pushing him toward taking more control in the kitchen. Details on the home cooking appear in the separate Hearth newsletter, which is focused on recipes and home cooking.

Gobble's Take: The Tap covers bagels and restaurant trends; the Hearth covers home cooking — and right now, the home kitchen is getting a lot of the author's attention. Source: Perplexity Search (community news)

A recipe, a house, and hundreds of cookbooks that won't pack themselves

Slow Rise Sundays draws a quiet parallel between a house becoming a home and a recipe becoming yours. After five years, this winter will be the last in the current place — and the evidence of a life built there is everywhere: the kitchen, the couch, the front door, and the daunting wall of 100s of cookbooks yet to be boxed.

Gobble's Take: Hundreds of cookbooks aren't a packing problem. They're a memoir that requires a moving truck. Source: Perplexity Search (community news)

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