After a few months at McDonald's, Tahmili moved on to a four-year post at a surveying company.

Though he "wasn't going to become a baker," Tahmili says that opinion changed when his cousin pointed out an old shoe repair shop in Watertown.

"I saw the opportunity of this place," Tahmili says. "I fixed everything here--the floor, the paint. We had to work."

The store is now a full-fledged bakery. The back room holds huge ovens, nut grinders, cooling racks and mixers. A working table stands in the center, surrounded by crates of baking equipment and ingredients.

In the shallow front of the store, imported goods from yogurt soda to quince syrup crowd the small shelves.

Tabrizi's symmetrical display cases, filled with neat trays of cookies and pastries, separate the working area from the customer section.

The landlord is making repairs in the kitchen area today, so Tahmili and Castellanos are preparing the cookies in the small cash register area.

Tahmili doesn't consult a recipe book as he, without looking, pours bottles of rosewater, flour and sugar into a large metal bowl.

"All these cookies, I memorized the recipes," he says.

"I could tell you the recipe 200 times; it's not going to come out the same way [as mine]."

"You have to [understand] how it's done," he says. "Recipes go by experience."

Castellanos learned in this manner.

"The first time I cooked, I just made cake," she says softly, pushing a spatula through a mound of dough. "Now, I make everything."

Tabrizi's specialties include zolbi, fried yogurt and starch dipped in honey; piroke, a log-shaped cake with homemade jam and a Danish glaze; nazok, a honey- and sesame-covered dough bar; and small clover-shaped chickpea flour cookies.

Tabrizi is located at 56A Mt. Auburn Street, in Watertown Square.