“Persepolis,” the new cinematic adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoirs, shares its name with the ancient capital of the Persian Empire, situated about 30 miles from the modern-day city of Shiraz. It is also the name of a Persian restaurant on the Upper East Side. This week, Dinner and a Movie recommends “Persepolis” — both the film and the Iranian eatery, which serves up Middle Eastern specialties.

DINNER

Persian cuisine is its own animal, but it borrows heavily from other genres of cuisine — feta cheese from Greece, vegetable dips and grilled meats from throughout the Middle East, and spices from South Asia. Persepolis’s extensive menu emphasizes the diversity of Persian dishes, with an eye toward fresh produce. If you’re dining with a group, ordering the appetizer sampler assures that you’ll taste some of the most popular dishes, including baba (a cousin of baba ghanoush), which is mashed eggplant mixed with walnuts and kashk, a cream-like dip native to Iran. Also on the sampler platter are hummus; borani, a thick yogurt dip mixed with garlic and spinach, and a labu salad, made with beets, pistachios, and cherry vinaigrette. Cherries make another appearance in the sour-cherry, red-hued rice served with the entrees. (Other choices include rice seasoned with either almonds or dill.) Kebab entrees include the shandij, a rack of lamb seasoned with saffron and filet mignon kebabs. Another notable entrée is the tender skewered Cornish hen, which arrives with its glistening, crispy skin intact.

(1407 Second Ave. at 73rd Street, 212-535-1100)

MOVIE

The prelude to and impact of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 is seen through the eyes of a young protagonist in Marjane Satrapi’s animated autobiographical film, “Persepolis,” co-directed by Vincent Paronnaud. The graphic novel version of her story was published in 2003 to wide acclaim; last year, the animated, (mostly) black-and-white film received accolades at the Cannes and New York film festivals. “Persepolis” follows Ms. Satrapi’s childhood self, who witnesses changes in Iranian society — and in her daily life — following the revolution; she is forced to wear a headscarf, is harassed by revolutionaries, and mourns the execution of her uncle, a political dissident, before seeking refuge in Europe. In the December 21 New York Sun, critic Nicolas Rapold wrote, “‘Persepolis’ does not shy away from depicting life under Iran’s repressive regime: Marjane’s childhood with loving parents and an adored grandmother is streaked with the theocracy’s spreading incursions that she comprehends first naïvely and, later, with almost rash rebellion.”