ARMENIAN FOOD IS STAR AT FOUR-DAY FEST
By Jann Malone
Richmond Times Dispatch
nt.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-17-0005.html
Sept 17 2008
VA
If you think you don’t like lamb, the cooks at this year’s Armenian
Food Festival would like you to try one of their Hye burgers.
Hye — it means Armenian in Armenia — are half lamb, half sirloin
beef, plus plenty of spices. "People who didn’t think they liked lamb
have ordered the Hye burgers," said Anne Tootelian Norris, who sees
what’s selling during the festival because she works the cash register.
. . .
This is the 50th year for the festival, which opens tomorrow and
runs through Sunday at St. James Armenian Church in Richmond at 834
Pepper Ave. on the corner of Patterson and Pepper avenues. Festival
organizers are preparing for 7,500 to 8,000 people over four days.
Lunch officially runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner, from 5 to 9
p.m. on Thursday and Friday. The big food lines close down in between,
but Hye burgers, pastries and drinks will be available all day. "And,"
Norris said, "anybody who comes to us and says they really want a
chicken kebab, we’re going to cook them one."
On the weekend, the cooks don’t get a break and will serve from 11
a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Food is the star of this festival, but there will also be a silent
auction and plenty of dancing and other entertainment.
. . .
If burgers aren’t to your liking, go to the festival anyway. You’ll
find plenty of choices, among them beef or chicken shish kebab, rice
pilaf, green beans, stuffed grape leaves and hummus. You’ll also
find a pie made of ground beef, tomatoes and peppers, as well as an
Armenian bean salad made of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and parsley.
You’ll also find traditional holiday breads and an assortment of
pastries, including bourma, the Armenian version of what other cuisines
call baklava or paklava. You can buy a pastry assortment for $3.
Everything is sold ? la carte, Shish kebab is $6 for chicken and $8
for beef. You’ll find a Hye burger combo platter with Armenian rice
pilaf and green beans for $12.