'It's been bittersweet': The Iranian-Iraqi cafe drawing crowds to Hackney

A queue stretches down a street in east London.

It is for Logma, a newly opened Iranian-Iraqi cafe in Hackney that has gone viral for its sandwiches - which sell out within an hour or two.

Many are drawn in by pictures they have seen on Instagram and start queuing around noon at the weekend.

Despite being the most popular item on the menu, the owners confess the sandwiches were "kind of a mistake" born out of their decision to open before having any plates or cutlery.

Couple Ziad Halub and Farsin Rabiee ran a popular series of sold-out supper clubs in London before opening Logma, just days before protests broke out in Iran and spread across the country.

Rabiee says the timing of starting their business has been "bittersweet".

"It's been a very difficult period for myself as an Iranian and many Iranians," he says.

The couple opened Logma on 21 December to mark Yalda, an Iranian celebration for the winter solstice.

Days later, the protests broke out.

Authorities reacted with a violent crackdown on protesters and a near-complete shutdown of Iran's internet access to the outside world.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), at least 7,000 people were killed in January, including 6,488 protesters and 236 children.

Halub and Rabiee responded by offering free coffee and halva, a sweet given out at funerals, to anyone affected by the situation and wanting to mourn.

As Iranians gathered to celebrate the Persian New Year, the country is under US-Israeli bombardment and yet another state-imposed internet blackout.

At 21 days, it is the longest in the country's history, according to monitoring group NetBlocks.

Rabbie says: "Some days have felt a bit like: how do we promote a culture or make food from a culture when everyone is mourning? Everyone is in pain, everyone is stressed, but I think it was more important than ever to do so."

Logma's Iranian customers seem to feel the same, popping in for regular visits and swapping updates on who has heard from their families.

One regular, Shadan, says Logma feels like a living room – particularly for those who live in exile or far from home.

Ava, another Iranian customer, says: "Food always brings people together and it's nice to show the positive sides of Persian culture, even in a difficult time."

Atoosa Sepehr, an author and nutritional therapist, attests to the unique power of food in providing comfort and bringing people together.

Sepehr first found comfort in Iranian food when she moved abroad. Inspired by the experience, she wrote a cookbook and her life story was later turned into a play.

"When I came here, I started missing my home a lot […] and one thing that really really helped me was the food, because I noticed as soon as I get Persian ingredients out of the cupboard, the smell takes me back home," she says.

"I started cooking, learning, calling my parents, my grandma, my aunt, to learn the recipes and that was my comfort and that was my way of getting back again."

These days, she finds herself turning to Iranian food once more, worried for what will happen in her home country and unable to contact family.

She says: "When the smell of Persian food is up in my flat, if I close my eyes, I feel like I am sitting next to my mum and dad."

The owners of Logma say it is common for people to come in and cry, laugh, share stories, or learn more from other people sitting around the table with them.

Their space was designed with interactions like these in mind.

"There's one long communal table, many people have made friends here," says Halub.

"When people come here, they sort of let their guard down. They feel like they're in their grandma's house."

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