Sufi's

Sufi's is a fairly new Persian restaurant in Buckhead.  I went for dinner on a Saturday night and it was packed.  The interior is very lovely and the ceiling is draped in fabric.  There is a small patio but some of the tables are too close to busy Peachtree Rd. for my taste.  The hostess seemed to be having some trouble and I had to wait thirty minutes to be seated despite having a reservation.  I was with friends though and we were offered some tea while we waited, so I didn't mind.
The appetizer list was intriguing.  All but one of the offerings are vegetarian and aside from the standard hummus, I wanted to try all of them.   I decided on the Mast Spinach (yogurt with cooked spinach) and the Mirza Ghasemi (smoked eggplant with tomatoes and garlic).  These were served with large triangles of pita.  Everything tasted great but I'm a sucker for smoked eggplant so the Mirza Ghasemi won the first round.
The entrees were less vegetarian friendly.  It was a choice between vegetable kabobs and a veggie stew.  I chose the stew which was a spicy tomato based stew with chickpeas, potatoes and more eggplant.  The stew was good but the best part was the fluffy, saffron basmati rice which must have been coated with substantial butter because it was heavenly. 
The portion sizes are quite large so I was full.  Some friends got dessert but they weren't appealing to me - sponge cake roulade and cheesecake.  I might have made room for some killer baklava but that wasn't an option.  Overall I had a wonderful time at Sufi's.  The food was different and delicious although next time I might stick to appetizers and a rice dish.  The atmosphere was transportive and there was even some live music crammed into a corner that wasn't too loud.  There is no alcohol served yet but you can bring your own without having to pay a corkage fee.  As you can imagine, the bill remains pleasantly low this way.