The clothis alreadyspread.
Turkmen wedding feasts, embassy receptions, and corporate gatherings prepared the way grandmothers in Ashgabat do — unhurried, generous, and ancient.
Ashgabat, c. 1978
94%
Return clients
Our Story
Three women.One kazan.Forty years.
My grandmother Ogulnur never wrote a recipe. She measured cumin in the cup of her palm, judged the plov by the sound of the rice settling in the kazan, and knew the tandyr was ready when she could hold her hand inside for exactly three seconds.
Her daughter learned the same way. I learned the same way. Dastarkhan exists because that knowledge deserves a longer table — one that stretches from Ashgabat to wherever your family gathers next.
Halal farms in Virginia & Pennsylvania
Traditional clay tandyr, fired at dawn
Open flame in cast-iron kazan
Dish by dish,you inherita tradition.
Each chapter opens with a family memory. The visitor doesn't browse a menu — they walk into a kitchen.
Breads & Fire
The Tandyr
The tandyr wakes before the rest of the kitchen. By the time the first guests arrive, the clay walls have absorbed six hours of heat — enough to bake a çörek in four minutes flat, the crust shattering at the slightest pressure while the crumb stays soft as a pillow. We bake in batches through the night before a toý so that every piece arrives warm.
Çörek
Hand-pulled flatbread baked directly on the tandyr wall, dusted with sesame and nigella
Gatlama
Layered spiral pastry fried in cottonseed oil, flaky and golden, served with sour cream
Etli Börek
Lamb-stuffed pastry parcels baked until the crust blisters, scented with coriander
Slow Flame & Rice
The Kazan
The kazan is a cast-iron vessel the size of a small well, and building plov in it is a ceremony with a fixed order: lamb fat rendered first, then onion until it turns the colour of amber, then carrot cut long and thin, then the rice laid on top in a perfect dome and never stirred. The steam does the work. Patience is the ingredient no recipe can teach.
Turkmen Plov
Long-grain rice built over open flame with lamb, yellow carrot, cumin, and barberries in cast-iron kazan
Dograma
Shredded lamb slow-braised with onion and dried plums, ladled over crumbled çörek
Shurpa
Clear lamb broth with whole vegetables, served as the first course to open the dastarkhan
Salads & Preserves
The Garden
Every grandmother kept a garden and a cellar. The garden gave tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs in summer; the cellar gave pickled watermelon rind, dried apricots, and preserved garlic through winter. On the dastarkhan, the garden and the cellar meet — the fresh and the fermented arranged in small bowls around the kazan like a crown of colour.
Badamjan Salad
Roasted aubergine with tomato, fresh garlic, and walnut, dressed in sunflower oil
Çal (Fermented Camel Milk)
The ancestral probiotic of the Turkmen table, slightly tart, served cold in small ceramic cups
Pickled Garden
House-pickled watermelon rind, green tomato, and baby cucumber with dill and mustard seed
Every tablehas a story.
Diaspora weddings, embassy receptions, corporate retreats. The cloth spreads everywhere.
Our toý had 280 guests and not a single dish arrived cold. The plov alone drew people back for thirds. Several guests asked if they could hire the kitchen for their own children's weddings.
Merjen Orazova
Mother of the Bride
Wedding Toý · Vienna, VA
We host Turkmenistan's National Day every year. This was the first time our reception felt genuinely Turkmen rather than generically 'Central Asian.' The dograma course silenced the room.
Khalid Al-Rashidi
Cultural Attaché
Embassy Reception · Washington D.C.
I told my team we were trying Turkmen food. They expected hummus. They got çal, shurpa, and lamb plov cooked over open flame in our parking lot. Three people cried. In a good way.
Priya Nambiar
Director of People & Culture
Corporate Retreat · McLean, VA
Grandmother approved. That is the only review that matters in our family. She said the çörek tasted like Ashgabat in 1990. We are already booking for my brother's toý.
Dovlet Meredov
Family Client
Graduation Celebration · Fairfax, VA
The tasting session alone was worth the trip. We brought six finalists to the table. Dastarkhan was the unanimous choice before the second course arrived.
Sandra Okonkwo
Senior Event Planner
Corporate Gala · Tysons Corner, VA
I have eaten plov in eight countries. This is the version that makes all the others feel like approximations. The barberry-to-rice ratio is a secret I would pay dearly to know.
Rustam Nazarov
Food Writer
Private Dinner · Arlington, VA
Our toý had 280 guests and not a single dish arrived cold. The plov alone drew people back for thirds. Several guests asked if they could hire the kitchen for their own children's weddings.
Merjen Orazova
Mother of the Bride
Wedding Toý · Vienna, VA
We host Turkmenistan's National Day every year. This was the first time our reception felt genuinely Turkmen rather than generically 'Central Asian.' The dograma course silenced the room.
Khalid Al-Rashidi
Cultural Attaché
Embassy Reception · Washington D.C.
I told my team we were trying Turkmen food. They expected hummus. They got çal, shurpa, and lamb plov cooked over open flame in our parking lot. Three people cried. In a good way.
Priya Nambiar
Director of People & Culture
Corporate Retreat · McLean, VA
Grandmother approved. That is the only review that matters in our family. She said the çörek tasted like Ashgabat in 1990. We are already booking for my brother's toý.
Dovlet Meredov
Family Client
Graduation Celebration · Fairfax, VA
The tasting session alone was worth the trip. We brought six finalists to the table. Dastarkhan was the unanimous choice before the second course arrived.
Sandra Okonkwo
Senior Event Planner
Corporate Gala · Tysons Corner, VA
I have eaten plov in eight countries. This is the version that makes all the others feel like approximations. The barberry-to-rice ratio is a secret I would pay dearly to know.
Rustam Nazarov
Food Writer
Private Dinner · Arlington, VA
Grandmother approved. That is the only review that matters in our family. She said the çörek tasted like Ashgabat in 1990. We are already booking for my brother's toý.
Dovlet Meredov
Family Client
Graduation Celebration · Fairfax, VA
The tasting session alone was worth the trip. We brought six finalists to the table. Dastarkhan was the unanimous choice before the second course arrived.
Sandra Okonkwo
Senior Event Planner
Corporate Gala · Tysons Corner, VA
I have eaten plov in eight countries. This is the version that makes all the others feel like approximations. The barberry-to-rice ratio is a secret I would pay dearly to know.
Rustam Nazarov
Food Writer
Private Dinner · Arlington, VA
Our toý had 280 guests and not a single dish arrived cold. The plov alone drew people back for thirds. Several guests asked if they could hire the kitchen for their own children's weddings.
Merjen Orazova
Mother of the Bride
Wedding Toý · Vienna, VA
We host Turkmenistan's National Day every year. This was the first time our reception felt genuinely Turkmen rather than generically 'Central Asian.' The dograma course silenced the room.
Khalid Al-Rashidi
Cultural Attaché
Embassy Reception · Washington D.C.
I told my team we were trying Turkmen food. They expected hummus. They got çal, shurpa, and lamb plov cooked over open flame in our parking lot. Three people cried. In a good way.
Priya Nambiar
Director of People & Culture
Corporate Retreat · McLean, VA
Grandmother approved. That is the only review that matters in our family. She said the çörek tasted like Ashgabat in 1990. We are already booking for my brother's toý.
Dovlet Meredov
Family Client
Graduation Celebration · Fairfax, VA
The tasting session alone was worth the trip. We brought six finalists to the table. Dastarkhan was the unanimous choice before the second course arrived.
Sandra Okonkwo
Senior Event Planner
Corporate Gala · Tysons Corner, VA
I have eaten plov in eight countries. This is the version that makes all the others feel like approximations. The barberry-to-rice ratio is a secret I would pay dearly to know.
Rustam Nazarov
Food Writer
Private Dinner · Arlington, VA
Our toý had 280 guests and not a single dish arrived cold. The plov alone drew people back for thirds. Several guests asked if they could hire the kitchen for their own children's weddings.
Merjen Orazova
Mother of the Bride
Wedding Toý · Vienna, VA
We host Turkmenistan's National Day every year. This was the first time our reception felt genuinely Turkmen rather than generically 'Central Asian.' The dograma course silenced the room.
Khalid Al-Rashidi
Cultural Attaché
Embassy Reception · Washington D.C.
I told my team we were trying Turkmen food. They expected hummus. They got çal, shurpa, and lamb plov cooked over open flame in our parking lot. Three people cried. In a good way.
Priya Nambiar
Director of People & Culture
Corporate Retreat · McLean, VA
By the time you reach this form,you are not buying catering.
You are inviting someone's grandmother to cook. Choose your path below.
Plan a Toý
Full-service wedding and celebration catering. We handle everything from the kazan to the last çörek.