What started as a plan to open a modern Iranian Café offering freshly baked pastries and sweets turned into a pizza place, putting a Persian spin on the comfort food classic.
Noon Eatery opened in January 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a province-wide stay-at-home order in place, restaurants could only offer take-out. Siamak Masoumi, head chef at Noon Eatery, knew the team had to pivot their concept if they were going to appeal to consumers take-out preferences.
After some thought it was decided: people love pizza. And so, Noon Eatery set out to offer Torontonians the take-out staple, without sacrificing the culture and flavours of home.
Siamak began his career in Iran, providing advertising and design strategies to various restaurants and other businesses. Through his work in the food industry, he found a lot of repetition, with many restaurants lacking culture and creativity in their menu offerings.
“This realization inspired my own journey of learning and exploring the ancient and traditional dishes of Iran. I studied the traditional ways of cooking in ancient Persia and at the same time, participated in baking and cooking training courses in Iran and Turkey,” he says.
He began developing his own recipes and honing his cooking techniques and now at Noon Eatery, has brought these learnings all the way to Canada, with the goal of incorporating a piece of Persia’s ancient history into each dish.
This cultural exploration emanates through each and every item at the pastry-shop-turned-pizzeria, which boasts a 100 per cent Halal menu and even offers sandwiches if pies aren’t your thing.
Pizza lovers can expect homemade dough, a combination of sourdough and traditional Italian dough made daily, in-house. The dough then rests for a minimum 24 hours, giving the pizzas a light and fluffy crust customers rave about. As for toppings, you can find some of the usual pizza place picks in addition to some unique options specific to Persian cuisine, like chicken shawarma and Persian sausage. Dipping sauces are also made in-house by the chef and serve as a call back to Persian culture, with traditional options like eggplant and hummus.
Not sure where to start? Top-sellers include the chicken shawarma pizza with a side of tahini sauce or a traditional Iranian sandwich, called the Bandari, a flavour-packed collection of spicy sausage, onions, tomato paste, pickles and diced fried potatoes.
There’s also a Bandari-inspired pizza that Siamak invented, called the Persian Sausage Bandari pizza which adds the same delicious kick without the pickles and potatoes. For lighter far you can opt for the berry spinach salad, topped with walnuts and a lemon Za’atar dressing.
Located at 3190 Yonge Street near the Bedford Park area, the restaurant is mid-sized with 16 seats indoors and six seats on the outdoor patio. The interior is modern, with a cozy and welcoming atmosphere for customers who wish to dine in. Patrons often flock to the mural wall in the restaurant, taking pictures and enjoying the modern Iranian music playing in the background.
For the staff at Noon Eatery, it’s just the beginning. Siamak and his team have big plans to continue innovating, expanding the menu to offer even more unique flavour pairings and items, like a spicy shrimp pizza that’s currently in the works – inspired by a Persian stew popular in Iran.
“Our team has one thing in commons, we are all passionate about good food and providing great customer service and putting smiles on our customers’ faces.”
Grab take-out or dine-in seven days a week: Monday – Saturday from 2 p.m. – 10 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. – 9p.m.