The grilled bone-in beef short rib sits atop a butternut squash spread with a pile of fresh toppings. | Jack Powell/Eater DC Tasty Iranian hummus, fun drinks, and a DJ make Live Fire Fridays feel like a homey party. Welcome to the Scene Report, a column in which Eater captures the vibe of a D.C. restaurant at a specific moment in time. Despite all the impressive accolades year-old Joon has collected, including James Beard recognition and a recent addition to The New York Times 50 Best Restaurants, there is something humbly welcoming about visiting the Iranian restaurant. Tucked away in an unassuming, retail-filled Tysons, Virginia, Joon’s courtyard patio surrounded in vines is the new place to be every Friday (8045 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Virginia). That’s when a limited live-grilled menu is served by chef and co-owner Chris Morgan, who singlehandedly mans the massive outdoor grill, chats up customers, and even drops off platters himself when runners are busy. He makes it look easy after years of experience working over a live fire at Michelin-starred places like the Dabney and Maydan. Jack Powell/Eater DC Diners inside can also order off the grill menu, and a steady stream of customers come out and marvel over the huge flames. “You can burn stuff so easily out here... one distraction and all of a sudden it’s just insanity over here,” he recounts. “You have to be really, really, really organized to cook on fire.” Morgan is definitely well-organized, painstakingly planning for a week the two dishes he grills and plates completely by himself. On Mondays he writes a list of almost ten dishes, refining down his ideas up until two days before the main event. Then he gets to sourcing last-minute ingredients, marinating, and prepping all the sauces, condiments, and sides for the Friday spread. Jack Powell/Eater DC A pan is left in the fire to burn off any residual seasoning. Despite all the intensity Morgan brings to the live fire grilling process, there is an incredibly laid-back vibe on the patio. A DJ plays an eclectic mix of everything from lively Persian music to a bossa nova version of “Smooth Operator” as customers laugh, drink, and eat in the 44-seat outdoor space. Morgan’s family is a constant fixture at the lively Friday event. Last week his parents brought a group of friends and his wife, Christal, corralled his one-year-old daughter, Aria, who has jut learned to walk and considers the stony patio and soft blue couches her personal playground. Jack Powell/Eater DC Both hummus options come topped with edible flowers. Jack Powell/Eater DC Garnished with mint and basil, the Tehrooni Negroni riffs on the classic by leveraging Bergamot Orange Liqueur and saffron ice. Morgan recommends starting off with bread and two hummus dishes, one topped with seasonal vegetables covered in an addictive black garlic and sweet vinegar sauce and a braised lamb shoulder version filled with harissa and sumac onions. Paired with a sour and herbaceous Tehrooni Negroni and an earthy fig old fashioned, it’s hard to not fill up while happily scooping hummus that changes from bite to bite as punchy herbs and salty feta change up the complex flavors. The drifting smoke and sizzling reminds us to focus up and put down the flatbread, as Morgan begins to grill up swordfish kabobs that have been marinating overnight in sour orange sauce. The fish was driven in late the night before by a one-man distributor from Cape May, New Jersey, and the freshness of the fish is obvious in the steak-like moist texture. Served with sunchokes seared till they become almost caramelized and a saffron beurre blanc sauce, Morgan delicately tops off the already decadent dish with Royal Baika caviar that lends a fruity Ocean taste to the meaty fish. Jack Powell/Eater DC All the toppings, sauces, and sides are prepped and kept warm on the grill. Jack Powell/Eater DC Morgan tried to capture the sauce in a ring of sunchokes, but the grill demanded his attention. “Yeah, I just figure out plating in the moment,” Morgan admits. “It definitely changes throughout the night.” While the swordfish kabobs are subtle, played up with bright saffron and nutty sunchokes, Morgan’s second dish last week was a complete flavor bomb. Bone-in beef short rib is cured for seven hours (with brown sugar and a Persian adveih spice mix) before being cooked on low for 16 hours, so by the time it hits the grill, the massive ribs are ready for a quick sear before almost falling off the bone. Homemade pickled sweet peppers, pistachio chermoula (that Morgan calls “North African salsa verde”), and caramelized barberry all top the already incredibly flavorful short rib on a bed of kashk-e kadu (a savory butternut squash spread). Morgan maintains that “that wood fire cooking, for me, just allows you to really let things stand on their own” and that the swordfish and beef short ribs could be served without all the additional toppings, but he also loves to manipulate dishes with different “substances and condiments.” Jack Powell/Eater DC To the right of the grill, Morgan plates the dish and adds all the last garnishes himself. Jack Powell/Eater DC Morgan had this steel-covered grill custom made years ago and had only used it at events before bringing it to Joon. He says he’d rather go to a restaurant and get a lot of small plates then a main. “Palate fatigue is real,” Morgan jokes. It makes sense that he’s created many different dishes within each of his large grilled plates, as different flavor combinations keep you coming back for more. Even as diners start to get full, you can see them sopping up the last bits of sauce and not leaving one stray pickled pepper behind. Patting bellies full of grilled meat, a hush falls over the tables as the patio gets darker and Morgan is completely absorbed in the dinner rush. The ongoing perfume of smoke starts to make us feel like we’re gathered around a campfire as we sip on Persian black tea sweetened with saffron rock candy to finish the meal. Th grilling nights will extend into late fall and early winter. “I’ll be out here as it gets colder too,” Morgan says, “You’ll see me out here in a parka.” Surprisingly, it seems like loyal customers will be out here as well, driving through the Tysons Corner Center traffic and shivering through the Virginia winter to experience the magic of Live Fire Fridays. Jack Powell/Eater DC The pots of black tea comes in different sizes, the 16-ounce is perfect for two.