11:52, 9 July 2022
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS. The first case of monkeypox has been detected in New Zealand, the ministry of health said.
The person, 30, lives in Auckland and has recently returned from overseas travel in a country with reported cases of monkeypox.
Monkeypox cases have been confirmed in around 50 countries of the world.
Members and supporters of the opposition resistance movement held a march in support of Armenia’s Constitution in Yerevan on 5 July marked as Constitution Day in the country.
The protesters headed towards the Constitutional Court holding posters that read “Arrests can’t intimidate us!”, “No to dictatorship!”, “Freedom to political prisoners!”, “Armenia is a country of political prisoners” and the like, as well as a large model of the Constitution in chains. Also, they held photos of scores of arrested opposition activists.
Speaking to reporters at the march, ARF activist Sevak Nazaryan accused the current authorities of repeatedly violating the Constitution and seizing the country’s supreme court.
“The incumbent authorities have been trampling and distorting the Constitution in an effort to maintain their grip on power,” he said.
16:18, 6 July 2022
YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. It is planned to hold an international festival of duduk players in Yerevan next year, which will be titled “Jivan Gasparyan” in memory of the legendary Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia Vahram Dumanyan said during the inauguration ceremony of the bust of Jivan Gasparyan in Yerevan.
“I share the view that Jivan Gasparyan’s play is also a player. It was not a coincidence that he was bestowed with the title of the King of Duduk by the public. And the ministry is going to organize an international festival of duduk players, named “Jivan Gasparyan”, next year”, the minister said.
In his turn Deputy Minister Ara Khzmalyan said the most effective way of preserving memory is to keep it alive. “Jivan Gasparyan is the person who dedicated his entire conscious life to the popularization and internationalization of our national instrument, the duduk. I think that the greatest appreciation of his merits and past path will be to have an international festival of duduk players named after him. As duduk is included in UNESCO list, it’s very important for Armenia to have an international project which will regularly confirm that it is the owner of that instrument”, he said.
He informed that they present the idea of the festival for the first time and are going to discuss it also with the family of the legendary duduk player.
Award-winning travel photographer, blogger and filmmaker Ric Gazarian and public speaker and points expert Stefan Krasowski announce the 2022 premiere of an international travel festival that is designed to inspire, convene and support the world’s most accomplished and avid adventure travelers. The inaugural Extraordinary Travel Festival will take place in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14-16, 2022, and bring together the world’s most daring and ambitious explorers in a series of seminars and conversations that will help foster new connections and enable deeper travel planning in a post-pandemic world.
“Imagine many Marco Polos types, all gathering in a single location,” said Co-Founder, Gazarian, whose blog and website @GlobalGaz, feature stories and images from his colorful travels to over 150 countries. “The idea is to share knowledge, connect doers with dreamers, and help these extraordinary travelers research and plan their next eye-opening adventure.”
“As the world seems to get smaller with social media, accomplished travelers strive to discover the road less traveled. We endeavor to discover and explore and simply be surprised with some experience we were not anticipating. We think getting off the tourist path and into the real world in a more deep, extraordinary way is just what’s needed,” says Krasowski, who has traveled to every country in the world.
The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be hosting travelers who dream about planning their next trip to destinations that are challenging-to-visit, such as: Libya, Madagascar, or Iraq. It will also convene explorers who are passionate about seeing remote, pristine and extreme destinations, like Antarctica, Socotra, or Pitcairn Island.
Throughout the three-day festival, speakers from all corners of the globe, from Colombia to Kuwait to South Africa, will be taking the stage or leading breakout sessions about deeper, more out-of-the-ordinary travel experiences that are outside the norm. The speakers will inspire attendees with motivational talks of how they accomplished the impossible, for example, traveling to every country in the world without taking an airplane, or traveling by boat to Timbuktu. Other speakers will provide actionable information about how to obtain difficult visas or keep yourself safe when traveling to destinations in conflict.
The Festival will also be organizing pre-conference trips, dinners and evening parties in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Armenia was just named the World’s Leading Heritage Destination category in the World Travel Awards 2021.
“This event is about building community within this group of accomplished and avid travelers while learning about practical and actionable advice on how to create that next amazing travel experience,” added Krasowski.
Earlier this year, I introduced you to five young and bright people from Artsakh. The positive feedback motivated me to continue highlighting the youth and share the stories of more inspiring young people from Artsakh. They are smart. They know what they want. They are hard workers, and they are making Artsakh better and brighter today.
Here they are: Narek, a young photographer who knows how to make you smile and capture the best photos; Anush, a young lady planting microgreens and encouraging the people of Artsakh to eat healthy to feel better; Angelina, the sweetest student who has her own brand despite her young age; Christina, an optimistic and energetic young woman who will make your event unforgettable with her amazing balloons and party decorations; Diana, a talented dancer and owner of ‘’Nakshun’’ handmade bracelets; Grigori, a young and experienced hairstylist; Lusine, a certificated international etiquette consultant who will teach you how to eat and drink properly; and Inna and Narine, the young women who help Artsakh small businesses export their goods around the world.
Narek Sargsyan – 22 years old, photographer and public relations manager from Stepanakert
Narek Sargsyan
“After the 2020 Artsakh War, I realized that there is nothing impossible in this life. You just need to work hard and achieve all your goals. If you have peace and your people around, everything is possible.
I started my career as a photographer three years ago. Ten months ago, I launched ‘Artsakh Promotion,’ which aims to document the people of Artsakh and promote their businesses. The name says it all. We do photo shoots, video and drone videography. We also create cartoons, animations, web pages, graphic designs and take on PR and marketing.
The people I work with are the main motivation and inspiration of my job. I’m fortunate that I am able to stay in touch with clients even after the work is done. We are trying to support each other whenever it’s needed. This is so important and precious to me.
I like catching the happiest moments on photoshoots. I like to follow people’s facial expressions and see what makes them happy. I think this helps me to know them well and widen my horizons. I also like working with bright and bold people. When my subjects can pose and do everything to get good photos, when they have no complex, I really enjoy working with them, as well as couples. I don’t look at the time, and I don’t count minutes. I truly enjoy the whole process and the love in the air.
I don’t know whether I will do this for the rest of my life. Several years ago, if you told me that I would become a photographer, I would laugh at you. Everything changes too fast, and I should just live in the moment.
This job has one more perk. I started discovering Artsakh and its hidden gems. There is never enough time. Twenty-four hours isn’t enough for me.
I want to remember the funniest moments from my photo shoots and realize that they are plenty. I work with different people, and something awkward happens often. I was once taking photos of a couple at the Stepanakert cathedral, and there was a child praying and asking God for high grades on his exams.
One of the difficulties in my job is that most Artsakh people/couples are not used to showing their emotions, especially next to other people. When you ask them to show some emotions, they say that they never do that. The younger generation is more open-minded, and I never have such problems with them. I can say that there is a hope for a more open and more free society in the future.
It may sound paradoxical, but there is no difficult job if you do it with love. At the same time, all jobs are difficult if you want to do them perfectly and always seek perfection in every detail. I do my job with love. I’m thankful to my team: Diana, our photographer; Karen, our IT specialist and director; Mark, our computer animation specialist; and Erna who is helping us create logos.
I would suggest that young people not waste the time given to them today and use it with maximum profit to themselves and their homeland.”
Anush Yesayan – 24 years old, Greench Microgreens co-founder from Stepanakert
Anush Yesayan
“After the war…I realized that there is no time to wait, and you just need to live right here, right now.
It’s been about five months since I started my small business Greench Microgreens in Artsakh. My friend Tigran Andryan and I came up with the idea together. The main goal was to be useful in everyday life. I like planting greens. Initial feedback from our customers was positive. Then, we started getting more and more orders which meant we were starting to get popular and that people liked our greens. I was inspired by the idea of having my own business and bringing something new to Artsakh life. While thinking of the name, we wanted to make it simple and memorable. That’s how we came up with Greench Microgreens.
Our microgreens are healthy. Our customers say they saw improvements in their digestion, sleep and mood. They have so many vitamins that can compete with medicines. Moreover they are aesthetic and look great while decorating dishes. At this moment there are several restaurants who are taking orders from us, people who want to eat healthy and stay fit, also those who appreciate aesthetics even in food.
We have many followers from Armenia as well who are waiting for us. Unfortunately, there are no delivery options at the moment from Artsakh to Armenia, and we can’t make it. But hopefully in the near future, we will solve this problem and will appear in the Armenian market as well.
It’s interesting how the older generation views this. As you know Artsakh is the motherland of greens and seeing this ‘fancy’ green in their kitchen seems to be unacceptable, but no. There are those who understand the importance and use of our product, and they also started ordering it.
I would say that it’s easy to start a new business in Artsakh. There are many fields which should be filled. The internet is full of new amazing ideas, and when you have funds to start the business, it will take just your time and efforts to succeed.
We are planning to broaden our farm and in the future have our shop and our branches not only in Artsakh, but in Armenia and abroad. With God’s help, we will have not only microgreens, but other products to keep healthy and fit.”
Angelina Grigoryan – 15 years old, founder of Morpho from Stepanakert
Angelina Grigoryan
“After the war, I became more determined, and now I know that every day is a chance to become better and stronger. Life is a game, and the winner is the one who knows its weakness. You just need to know the rules of the game and enjoy it.
The idea of creating my own brand came during the war. I was working hard over a year to open my own brand which I named Morpho, a freedom-loving butterfly that flies on the highest peaks of the trees. Morpho produces tote bags and T-shirts mostly with Artsakh ornaments. While creating Morpho, I was inspired by the women who create their own businesses and never stop learning and being useful to the world.
I like mixing Artsakh ornaments with modern details and getting something unique.
In the beginning, I was getting orders mostly from Artsakh, but then when I became more experienced, I started delivering them abroad as well. Customers in Artsakh would buy Morpho and send them to their friends and relatives living abroad.
My customers mostly order bags and tee-shirts with Artsakh themes. The most favorites are Tatik-Papik and Ghazanchechots Cathedral patterns or something written in Artsakh dialect. We also have our customized tee-shirt called ‘Hayuhi’ for our incredible and beautiful Armenian women.
In the future, I plan to expand our geography and open a Morpho shop in Artsakh. For me, it’s easier to live and work in Artsakh as our soil gives me strength and motivation to create something beautiful.
I like to use J.K. Rowling as an example, who received 14 rejections when she was trying to publish Harry Potter. I’m sure that with hard work and with the help of God everything is possible.”
Christina Verdyan – 26 years old, owner of Verdyan’s Art Shop, Stepanakert
Christina Verdyan
“After the war, I started to love Artsakh even more. I was thinking about going abroad to start a new life, but now I can’t imagine even a day without Artsakh. Even when I’m in Yerevan, I’m counting the days to come back to Stepanakert. I’m much more needed here than in other places on earth.
Verdyan’s Art Shop specializes in balloons and other decorations for birthdays, weddings and other celebrations. I’ve been doing this job for five years. I previously worked at a café where parents always asked me to help them decorate birthday parties. This is how I discovered this talent and started my small business.
I feel confident and strong here in Artsakh, and I think that we have only a lack of strong leaders to overcome this shameful situation and live our decent lives.
In the future, I plan to open my own bridal salon because I don’t like that our brides have to travel to Yerevan to get their wedding dresses. I want to make them beautiful and shine on their special day.
I advise everyone, especially young people living in the Diaspora, to come to Artsakh at least once to get to know us, as reading news or posts on social media is totally different from our real life here in Artsakh. We are fighting for our life. We are struggling to have things which our peers get for free in other countries where they don’t even know the price of freedom and peace. Here you will understand that and will appreciate everything you have in your life.”
Diana Hambardzumyan – 27 years old, professional dancer and founder of Nakhshun Art, Stepanakert
Diana Hambardzumyan
“After the war, I became a more easygoing person. I just want to live and enjoy my life here in Artsakh.
I’ve been dancing for six years. I’ve been working at Artsakh State Dance Ensemble for over 10 years. When I was dancing ‘Nakhshun Baji,’ my colleagues started calling me Nakhshun. This is what inspired the name of the handmade bracelet brand ‘Nakhshun’ that launched one year ago. In the beginning, it was something like art therapy for me. Afterwards, my friends convinced me to create my own brand, and it became popular. I have always liked handmade jewelry; I appreciate everything handmade. Even in my childhood, I liked making bracelets from the beads. Macramé was also interesting to me. I mostly knit with schemes, but sometimes I want to make something crazy and just improvise.
How do I combine dancing with knitting? The answer is simple. I knit after work. It’s healing and a way to relax.
In general, you can do anything if you have a wish. You can achieve anything by hard work.”
Grigori Danielyan – 18 years old, hair stylist, Stepanakert
Grigori Danielyan
“After the war, I started to appreciate life even more. I want to enjoy each second given to me and make people around me happier.
I had other plans for my future, but after the war I decided to learn a new craft, and this was the first thing that came to my mind. I took classes with a well-known hair stylist and colorist in Armenia and Russia. Then one of my coaches invited me to Yerevan to work at his beauty salon. This is how everything started.
Of course, people are surprised when they see me for the first time, but as soon as my work is finished, we become good friends and they visit me again and again. There are stereotypes among our people that if you are young and you are male, you can’t be a good specialist. But I’m doing my best to break all those stereotypes, and the range of women coming to cut or color their hair proves that I’m doing everything right.
There is also another problem when older generations or hair stylists with 15 to 20 years of experience look at me with doubt in their eyes; they seem like they don’t believe that someone young is capable of doing this work. But I strongly believe that it doesn’t matter how long you are occupying a particular job, if you don’t work on yourself daily you will not be able to become a good professional.
In the future, I plan to become famous not only in Artsakh and Armenia, but around the world. I’m planning to have my own studio and host masterclasses.
One piece of advice which I will give to young people is to never give up and use every failure as a new chance for great achievements.”
Lusine Hambardzumyan – 26 years old, certificated international etiquette consultant, Stepanakert
Lusine Hambardzumyan
“After the war, my love toward Artsakh became even bigger. I’m proud of being from Artsakh, and I feel the commitment while walking on this sacred soil.
I always dreamed of doing work outside the public and private sectors. This is how I found myself studying etiquette. I studied French, Russian and British etiquette. I realized that I want to share all the knowledge gained during these years. So I created an Instagram account and decided to host etiquette classes. I just launched my dining etiquette classes. I teach the proper etiquette of eating and behavior at the table based on British and French etiquettes. The course will be online and will last two weeks. These are my first steps in this field, so I’m starting with only one course. But I’m planning to also have an offline (tête-à-tête) course where I will also teach business etiquette.
I like observing people at restaurants. Unfortunately, most people are guilty of making common mistakes such as putting phones or purses on the table, applying make-up or discussing unacceptable issues (politics, religion, gossip).
In Artsakh, it’s interesting to learn more about our manners. While there is no such thing as Artsakh etiquette, we do need to take into account our culture. For instance, while eating our famous Jingalov hats you should always remember that Artsakh people don’t eat it with knife and fork, so you just take it and eat it with your hands. This is the same as Georgian khinkali, which you can’t eat with a knife and fork. You should always follow the traditions of a particular country.
Living and working in Artsakh has both its advantages and disadvantages. There are many new business opportunities. Having zero competition is good, but at the same time, it can be less motivating to become better. There are many who live in uncertainty. This is very demotivating, and it’s painful to see my people in despair. On the other hand, the youth are motivated to learn something new. They bring everything into balance, and I’m happy seeing our young people creating all the time.
It’s difficult to have long-term plans for the future in this disadvantageous political and geopolitical situation for Artsakh, but I’m sure my life’s work will be dedicated to Artsakh.
I will suggest to young people around the world to learn and fail, to fail until they will make it. Don’t pay attention to the marks which you get at the schools or universities. What’s most important is who you are inside and what you are doing to become better every day.”
Inna Baghiryan and Narine Hovhannisyan, founders of Buy4Artsakh and Verelk entrepreneurs. Baghiryan, 22 years old, is from Stepanakert. Hovhannisyan, 22 years old, is from Kolkhozashen village in Martuni region.
Inna Baghiryan and Narine Hovhannisyan
“After the war, we both started to appreciate Artsakh even more and put all our efforts to make Artsakh loud and visible to the world. We are here; we want to live and create on our land.
It’s been four months since we started our microbusiness in Artsakh. The 2020 Artsakh War damaged our economy, so we decided to create a platform where small businesses will be able to realize their products out of Artsakh and Armenia. To make it easier and faster, we decided to put all those products in one box. We had been working on this idea for seven months. We have created special boxes which symbolize Artsakh. Then we started to promote our business through Facebook and Instagram pages. Buy4Artsakh was welcomed warmly by our Diaspora. We sent our boxes to five different countries only in the first month. Our customers can choose what they want to see in the box, but mostly they let us decide. We work with more than 17 local businesses in Artsakh and help them export their products abroad. Diasporan Armenians are discovering Artsakh through our boxes. Many of them even decided to come visit Artsakh after receiving their boxes. Everyone is welcome to buy our boxes and experience different offerings from Artsakh. The main target is the Diaspora, and we are doing our best to make them feel closer to Artsakh.
In the last four months, we shipped over 100 Buy4Artsakh boxes abroad. We select seasonal items, and we pay attention to those products which are well-packed as people living abroad are paying attention to the branding.
We are planning to become an internationally recognized brand, and we wish to get orders not only from Armenians, but from foreigners as well.
We advise young people to be free in their dreams, learn more, work hard and put all the efforts toward the recognition of Artsakh. The future is in our hands.”
The Armenian opposition started a protest near the parliament building in central Yerevan on Friday morning amid debates being held by the parliament majority to strip two opposition lawmakers of their posts. Scores of police officers have cordoned off the street near the building.
The ruling Civil Contract faction has drafted a decision to oust Hayastan bloc’s Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Vahe Hakobyan as deputy parliament speaker and chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, respectively, for absenteeism.
Hayk Derzyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), denounced the process as “anti-democratic”, saying it is detrimental to the people who voted for the opposition at the 2021 elections.
“In fact, they are trying to stifle the voice of the opposition,” he told reporters.
The opposition has scheduled its next rally for Friday evening.
09:41,
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS. India and the European Union (EU) will hold the first round of negotiations around the free trade agreement (FTA) on June 27 after a 9-year pause, Doordarshan India reported.
“The first round of talks around the free trade agreement will be held today in New Delhi. The discussions will last for five days, until July 1”, the TV said, adding that the sides are expected to focus on reaching agreements around investment protection issues, facilitation of trade deals over agricultural goods, etc.
India and EU have started the talks on signing a free trade agreement in 2007, however, they were suspended in 2013 due to some disagreements between the sides.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
Despite insistences from Yerevan that a so-called land corridor through Armenia connecting mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan is out of the question, authorities in Baku have insisted that the opening of such a link, known as the ‘Zangezur Corridor’ is imminent.
Adding his voice of support for the scheme, conceived by Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev, was Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who said that Turkey was awaiting the opening of the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” as soon as possible.
He said that the corridor is key to the newly conceived Middle Transport Corridor between the East and West, which was discussed by him and his counterpart from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan during a meeting on Monday in Baku, the Anadolou news agency reported.
“Cargo deliveries across the Caspian Sea are of great importance. We are ready to continue taking steps to increase the significance of this corridor. The growth of investments in the field of transport and logistics will improve the level of well-being in the entire region,” said Cavusoglu.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday said that Ankara’s push for the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” is a hinderance to the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey.
“The constant chants about the ‘Zangezur Corridor’ from Turkey hinder the process and create a negative landscape. Statements are being made that are not very useful for the process,” Pashinyan said during a virtual press conference that was boycotted by the press because of its format.
He vowed, however, that Armenia sees an opportunity to normalize relations—“with sincerity”—and is willing to do everything to that end.
“We work with the logic that there is an opportunity, we must honestly do everything. Otherwise, the dialogue would be senseless. We think there is an opportunity, and we are willing to do everything to use that opportunity,” Pashinyan explained.
Yerevan and Ankara began talks to normalize relations between the countries “without preconditions.” Special envoys appointed to advance those discussion have met twice. Armenia’s foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan attended a diplomatic conference in Antalya, Turkey in March hosted by the Turkish foreign ministry.
Despite this, Turkish leaders have not ceased to signal that they are coordinating all facets of the talks with Azerbaijan, and like Cavusoglu’s announcement on Monday, are making public statements that go counter to the logic of negotiations “without preconditions.”
Pashinyan said that time will tell how deep and strong this evidenced coordination between Ankara and Baku will be.
15:53,
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Competition Protection Commission of Armenia Gegham Gevorgyan says that the prices of some food products have declined in the market.
After the Cabinet meeting today he told reporters that the price of the New Zealand butter has declined from 4692 drams to 4400 drams, and the price of Anchor butter has decreased from 5038 drams to 4691 drams.
“The Competition Protection Commission does not deal with regulation of prices. I don’t rule out that there may be areas and businesses that will make abuses”, he said.
Commenting on the prices of fuel and diesel fuel, he said that Iran is not selling diesel fuel and fuel in foreign markets recently, and most of the diesel fuel and petrol is imported to Armenia from the Russian Federation.
“Not only the dollar exchange rate affects the prices of the diesel fuel. The stock market price of the diesel fuel has significantly increased all over the world”, Gevorgyan said.
Lavash – here comes the first lesson of the evening – is the name of the thin bread that is ubiquitous in Armenia and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Also indispensable: nuts, cereals, legumes, many herbs and, yes, the pomegranate also appears in many dishes – as a raw fruit or as a syrup, the “balsamic of Armenia”, as Harutyun says.
This is also the case in the beetroot tartare we get as a starter. Fresh and creamy thanks to sour cream (lesson two: sour things like yoghurt and co. play a significant role in Armenian cuisine), topped with crunchy beetroot and accompanied by crispy baked lavash wedges.
“When you eat Armenian food, you travel 2500 years back in time,” says Harutyun. It is one of the oldest cuisines in the world, he says. Mama Narine gives these traditional dishes a modern makeover, serving the classic Armenian dolma (vine leaves stuffed with beef and vegetables) with yoghurt-garlic foam instead of simple sauce.
Narine Manukyan has worked as a cook in Tyrol for over 20 years, most recently as head chef in an Austrian restaurant. But for a long time, she and her son dreamed of having their own restaurant. She is proud of the traditional cuisine of her home country and especially proud that they have opened the country’s first Armenian restaurant with their Lavash.
Her eyes light up when she talks about food. About their recipes, which “all come from the family, from grandmas and great-grandmas”. About personal kitchen secrets and creative ideas that distinguish her dishes and make them unique. If you like, you can watch her cooking in the small open kitchen where she is busy (all alone!). “I don’t trust anyone,” she says with a laugh. “That’s why I have to cook everything myself.”
Good thing, I think to myself as I take the first spoonful of her spas. Spas is a yoghurt-based soup with hulled wheat, fresh herbs, pomegranate seeds and lavash chips – one of the most traditional Armenian dishes. It is lukewarm, which suits this summer evening wonderfully. The combination of yoghurt and wheat may sound unusual (to our palates) but makes perfect sense taste-wise. We use the soft flatbread to scrape the last bits out of the bowl.
With the soup, we drink white wine from the Karas winery: behind it is a family that returned to its Armenian homeland after many years in Argentina to make innovative wines. Wine culture in Armenia goes back many thousands of years. “Many people think of sweet wines first,” Harutyun says. I was no different. But, and here comes the subsequent learning, “In the last ten years, the wine landscape has completely reinvented itself.”
The result is wines like Kraki Ktor, made from the local Kangun grape variety, which tastes of bitter orange, and is fruity but not a bit sweet, rather mineral, as the vines grow in the volcanic soil around the sacred Mount Ararat.
Mount Ararat is the national symbol of Armenians – you can find it in their passports, on their coins, on their football shirts – even though it is no longer on Armenian soil but on Turkish ground. Armenia, squeezed between Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, was under foreign rule for a long time. Again and again, they had to cede territories to neighbouring countries, and to this day, there are border disputes. As a result, many people have left the country.
That is why the kitchen is so important as a symbol of identity, says Harutyun. Mother and son not only want to pass on their country’s culinary heritage but also want to do a little cultural mediation work. Do I know any famous people from Armenia? He asks me before the main course? I have to pass. And I learn that the singer Cher, the French chansonnier Charles Aznavour and the Kardashians all have Armenian roots. The first Viennese coffee house was also opened by an Armenian in 1685.
After this little history lesson, Harutyun brings our main courses: Butter-soft, juicy aubergines stuffed with minced meat and tomato sauce. As a vegan variant, the Garni yarakh is also available with bulgur. Just one of many plant-based dishes on the menu here.
Our second main course, Tsaghkazart, is also vegan: baked flower cabbage with roasted nuts, pomegranate seeds, fresh herbs and creamy cashew sauce. This, too, is a modern creation by chef Narine, which – like everything from her kitchen – comes beautifully presented to our table.
Our evening ends with sweet puff pastry (“handmade, of course”) and thick yoghurt, matured overnight like labneh. It is accompanied by Armenian brandy (which I had never tasted before!) and finally, a glass of pomegranate wine.
Tuesday to Saturday: 11:00am – 10:00pm
At lunchtime there is a separate menu with small, quick lunch dishes
Lavash
Hamerlingplatz 2
1080 Vienna-district 8
.How to get there
[email protected]
+43 660 202 1111
.lavash.at