Iran: Marziyeh's Mountain Café

High on a hillside north of the Iranian capital, a traditional coffeehouse stands out from the other cafes dotted around this tourist route for one thing – it is run by a woman.

Catering businesses in Iran are normally the domain of men, but when Marziyeh Abshari’s father died, she decided to take on the coffeehouse herself.

Now 45, she manages the café, with help from her five sisters and one brother who have worked there since childhood.

The Abshari café is still popularly known as “Abdollah Rish’s” after their father – known for his beard or “rish”. When he opened it five decades ago, it was the first of its kind in the Darband district, then a rural mountain district north of the capital.

Marziyeh recalls those days before the 1979 revolution, when the coffeehouse was the only one in Darband and was frequented by a clientele consisting of wrestlers, soccer players and singers.

“Business was great and my father brought home bags and bags of money, but he used to gamble all of it away at the end of the week. He was a stubborn guy who loved gambling,” she said.

Urban expansion means the area is now within the city limits, and there are plenty of restaurants, from basic to luxury, which attract hikers and daytrippers from Tehran.

Many of the visitors are heading north to the Alborz mountains, and Marziyeh says she does a lively trade at the weekends.

Keeping the café supplied involves Marziyeh in a bit of hiking herself. She has to set out up the mountain path before the hikers are up and about, to bring up provisions and have “dizi” stew, kebab and tea ready before the passing trade arrives. She repeats the journey with a mule laden with food, soft drinks, coal and pressurised gas tanks up to five times a day.

In winter, the mountain café is sometimes buried in snow.

Not everyone can afford to come in. “People don’t have money so they bring their own tea and food with them when they come to the mountains,” she said.

Running a café in such a remote location is tough work, but Marziyeh is more than equal to it. As well as being a black belt in Taekwondo, she is a qualified hiking coach, a good horserider, and a former aid worker with the Red Crescent.

She has no time to pursue these interests because the café is a full-time job.

If any of her customers think she will be a soft touch as a woman, Marziyeh gives them short shrift

“I’m the only female café owner in Darband. There have been occasions when a muscular man has come in and, after having tea and food, told me he has no money to pay for it, but I don’t stand for that sort of bullying.”
 

Azin Zanjani is an Iranian photographer based in Tehran.