It’s 10 a.m. at the McLean Moby Dick House of Kabob and the work crew has already arrived. Several sweep the floors, others sanitize and wipe down the tables, and yet others are firing up the grill and getting the kitchen ready for the upcoming trade. Surely this scene is repeated at other Moby Dick restaurants, for this kabob empire serves about 1.5 million people each year.
That kabobs have become as ubiquitous locally as, say, Starbucks coffee, is thanks largely to the dedication of one Persian man, Mike Daryoush, a quiet, modest and friendly fellow who more than 25 years ago decided to feature some foods from his native country. He said as a native of Shiraz, Iran, he believes in advertising his culture through food.
In an unpretentious location in Bethesda, Daryoush started out simple and small.
“When we started, we didn’t have this menu [the current one with daily specials, appetizers, salads, and kabob platters and sandwiches],” he says. “We just had simple sandwiches. In Iran, Moby Dick is famous, but to Americans the concept was new. Back home, Moby Dick was close to the American Embassy.” That meant that personnel returned from Iran were already familiar with the name and kebab concept.
And for the first two years, he did it all himself. “In the beginning,” he says, “I worked long hours, maybe 12 hours a day. I took off only one week for a honeymoon. You can’t leave this work to someone else.”
Fortunately, the restaurant business was not strictly foreign to him, as he had been employed by restaurants when he was in school. And later, he acknowledges putting his degree in engineering to work when making his kabobs. Of course, Moby Dick’s success — 12 locations with two more on the planning board — has more to do with his codifying his recipes and perfecting his delivery system than with his engineering aptitude.
For one, after expanding from his first Bethesda restaurant, Daryoush centralized his kitchens, often cooking or working with other cooks to control quality and to standardize each dish — so regardless of which Moby Dick location, customers find that the kabobs and other fare, though cooked to order on the spot, provide the identical flavor experience. Next, while denying he is a breadmaking genius, he has created what some call the ideal kabob bread, a soft, warm, yeasty, puffy wheel of dough that can gently enfold grilled meat. (To test this, just try two skewers of the kubideh kabob drizzled with yogurt and wrapped in bread: perfection!) Baked in a clay oven, the bread is the result of dozens of his bread-recipe experiments.
For another, Daryoush insists on using prime ingredients — even grinding his own beef for the kabobs — and using absolutely nothing that has been frozen, still keeping the costs down. And he keeps tasting his products almost everyday, even going so far as to keep his own tandoori oven at home for cooking trials.
Reflecting again on the Moby Dick success story, Daryoush also thanks God that he lives in this land of opportunity. “I want to grow the business as much as I can,” he says.
“I am proud to be here and I am finding my way. I don’t believe in competition. … From my point of view, we just keep trying to do our best.”
Moby Dick House of Kabob
6854 Old Dominion Drive
McLean, Va.
704-448-8448
» Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Visa, MasterCard accepted
» Locations: mobysonline.com
RECIPES
Moby Dick’s Mike Daryoush’s
Persian Yogurt Five Ways
1. Yogurt Mixed with Cucumber (Must-o Kheyar)
4 ounces plain yogurt
2 ounces chopped cucumber
1/2 teaspoon dried mint flakes
2. Yogurt mixed with cooked Beets (Must-o Labou)
4 ounces plain yogurt
2 ounces chopped cooked beets
1/2 teaspoon dried mint flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3. Yogurt mixed with sautéed spinach & onion (Bourani-e sphenage)
4 ounces plain yogurt
2 ounces sautéed minced onion
2 ounces sautéed, chopped spinach
Salt and freshly ground black
pepper to taste
4. Yogurt mixed with shallots (Must-o mooseer)
4 ounces plain yogurt
1 ounce minced shallots
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
5. Yogurt mixed with cooked eggplant and chopped fresh onion (Must-o bademjan)
4 ounces plain yogurt
2 ounces cooked eggplant, chopped
1 ounce chopped fresh onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
