conflict kitchen is a conceptual take-out food spot based in the east liberty neighborhood of pittsburgh; the concept is simple: “to serve cuisine from countries that the united states is in conflict with”. the idea is to rotate both the food and design of the place every four months or so to turn its focus towards a different country. created by Jon Rubin, Dawn Weleski and John Peña, in collaboration with graphic designer Brett Yasko; the project is already on its third iteration: la cocina arepas

the awesome thing about conflict kitchen, aside from the great-looking food, is the fact that they combine their food iterations with specific events, performances, and discussions about sociopolitical and cultural topics surrounding the country that’s being focused, or to put it in their words: “Through food, wrappers, programming, and daily interactions with customers, Conflict Kitchen creates an ongoing platform for first-person discussion of international conflict, culture, and politics.”

so far, the countries featured have been iran, through its “kubideh” sandwich; afghanistan, with its grilled “bolani”; and more recently venezuela with its tasty “arepas”. future plans include countries such as north korea, cuba, and more. we’d love to hear from you if you’ve already tried the place out. otherwise, if you’re in the neighborhood do check the place out! in the meantime you can follow their twitter account @conflictkitchen for updates on the project.

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