Ashkan Famili to Bring Yalda to Aria Village & Osprey Atlanta

Following its February 2022 opening in Aria Village, the Persian and Mediterranean restaurant will open a second location at Osprey Atlanta in early spring.

There is an update to this post: Yalda Plots Fall 2022 Debut in Sandy Springs

Ashkan Famili to Bring Yalda to Aria Village & Osprey Atlanta
Photo: Official

When Irving Jacobson of The Shumacher Group brought two sites to Chef and restaurateur Ashkan Famili for his new Persian and Mediterranean concept, Yalda, Famili simply couldn’t choose. The result? Atlantans will benefit from twice the food.

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Famili will open two Yalda locations in the first half of 2022. Initially, Yalda will debut in Aria Village. The second Yalda location will open in the Osprey Atlanta building, a luxury apartment complex in West Midtown.   

“We’re going after that tapas-style, a-la-carte Persian and Mediterranean food,” Famili said, speaking with What Now Atlanta. “I’m from Iran originally and moved here when I was a young teenager. My mother and all our family have been in the restaurant industry a long time, and I wanted to pay tribute to my family.” Famili’s grandfather was a butcher by trade.

Yalda is a nod to Famili’s family, as well as an opportunity to bring Persian-style tapas, or maze (mezze in Greek), to the greater Atlanta-area.

In addition to tapas, Yalda will offer traditional dishes and, with the help of Famili’s background in bartending, serve a substantial craft cocktail menu that will feature unique Mediterranean spirits. Yalda’s wine program is also something to note. “The wines will be Mediterranean,” Famili added. “We’re going to focus on wines from Santorini, Greece, which are some of my favorites.”

Look for both locations to open in the first half of 2022. “We’re shooting for beginning of February for Aria, and for Osprey the beginning of spring,” says Famili.

Eve Payne

Eve Payne

Eve Payne is a freelance writer with an MFA in poetry from Syracuse University. In 2019, she received the Leonard Brown Prize for her poetry, which has appeared or is forthcoming in Colorado Review, The Adroit Journal, Nashville Review, and RHINO.
Eve Payne

Eve Payne

Eve Payne is a freelance writer with an MFA in poetry from Syracuse University. In 2019, she received the Leonard Brown Prize for her poetry, which has appeared or is forthcoming in Colorado Review, The Adroit Journal, Nashville Review, and RHINO.
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