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TWO YEREVAN TIPS: LAGONID BISTRO-CAFE & SERGEI PARADJANOV MUSEUM
by Alex Robertson
Gadling.com
http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/04/two-yerevan-tips-lagonid-bistro-cafe-and-sergei-paradjanov-museum/
Nov 4 2011
Here are two Yerevan tips. Though both make it into some guidebooks,
neither would probably be an obvious choice for a Yerevan sojourn: the
Syrian-Armenian Lagonid Bistro-Cafe and the Sergei Paradjanov Museum.
I never meant to wander into Lagonid Bistro-Cafe (37 Nalbandyan
Poghots), a Syrian-Armenian restaurant in Yerevan. I wanted to eat
something distinctly Armenian, or at least something within the
ex-Soviet sphere. But the best sounding restaurants along these
lines in my rag-tag Lonely Planet to the Caucasus were closed, some
apparently for several years, restaurants with enticing names like
Color of Pomegranates (Armenian and Georgian cuisine, reportedly)
and Bukhara (Uzbek cuisine).
I kept walking in search of a decent lunch, and Lagonid Bistro-Cafe
looked like it might have potential. I ordered labne, hummus, mutabel,
and pomegranate juice. The hummus was creamy with lots of olive oil,
better than any hummus I'd had since an eye-opening feast at Fakhr
El-Din in Amman several years ago. (After Fakhr El-Din I couldn't eat
hummus for months and months. Their version was so far superior to
any hummus I'd ever had previously that I wasn't willing to pollute
my palate with bad hummus.) The labne was tart and the mutabel (a
puree of roasted eggplant and garlic) was spicy and satisfying. That
feast ran me 3300 dram ($8.70), and frankly the only thing on my mind
as I walked away was if I should return later that day or the next.
Another Yerevan tip: The Sergei Paradjanov Museum (15-16 Dzoragyugh
Poghots). Paradjanov, born to an ethnic Armenian family in Georgia in
1924, was a bad boy of avant-garde cinema at a time when dissident
behavior had frightening consequences. Uncomfortable working within
the social realist confines of Soviet cinema, Paradjanov was imprisoned
several times on various charges, including immorality and bribery. He
had many international champions in the arts, and many famous writers
and artists campaigned for his release during a long imprisonment
in the 1970s. Even when Paradjanov was no longer in prison, Soviet
authorities monitored him and limited his ability to work creatively.
The museum presents a psychedelic hodgepodge of Paradjanov's artistic
activities and aesthetic influences. Especially interesting items
include the shrine (above) and Paradjanov's dolls and collages.
Photographs, various objects, and the artist's collages, some very
intricate, cover the walls. Paradjanov developed the collage form
while he was imprisoned.
Be sure to check out other Far Europe and Beyond series installments.
by Alex Robertson
Gadling.com
http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/04/two-yerevan-tips-lagonid-bistro-cafe-and-sergei-paradjanov-museum/
Nov 4 2011
Here are two Yerevan tips. Though both make it into some guidebooks,
neither would probably be an obvious choice for a Yerevan sojourn: the
Syrian-Armenian Lagonid Bistro-Cafe and the Sergei Paradjanov Museum.
I never meant to wander into Lagonid Bistro-Cafe (37 Nalbandyan
Poghots), a Syrian-Armenian restaurant in Yerevan. I wanted to eat
something distinctly Armenian, or at least something within the
ex-Soviet sphere. But the best sounding restaurants along these
lines in my rag-tag Lonely Planet to the Caucasus were closed, some
apparently for several years, restaurants with enticing names like
Color of Pomegranates (Armenian and Georgian cuisine, reportedly)
and Bukhara (Uzbek cuisine).
I kept walking in search of a decent lunch, and Lagonid Bistro-Cafe
looked like it might have potential. I ordered labne, hummus, mutabel,
and pomegranate juice. The hummus was creamy with lots of olive oil,
better than any hummus I'd had since an eye-opening feast at Fakhr
El-Din in Amman several years ago. (After Fakhr El-Din I couldn't eat
hummus for months and months. Their version was so far superior to
any hummus I'd ever had previously that I wasn't willing to pollute
my palate with bad hummus.) The labne was tart and the mutabel (a
puree of roasted eggplant and garlic) was spicy and satisfying. That
feast ran me 3300 dram ($8.70), and frankly the only thing on my mind
as I walked away was if I should return later that day or the next.
Another Yerevan tip: The Sergei Paradjanov Museum (15-16 Dzoragyugh
Poghots). Paradjanov, born to an ethnic Armenian family in Georgia in
1924, was a bad boy of avant-garde cinema at a time when dissident
behavior had frightening consequences. Uncomfortable working within
the social realist confines of Soviet cinema, Paradjanov was imprisoned
several times on various charges, including immorality and bribery. He
had many international champions in the arts, and many famous writers
and artists campaigned for his release during a long imprisonment
in the 1970s. Even when Paradjanov was no longer in prison, Soviet
authorities monitored him and limited his ability to work creatively.
The museum presents a psychedelic hodgepodge of Paradjanov's artistic
activities and aesthetic influences. Especially interesting items
include the shrine (above) and Paradjanov's dolls and collages.
Photographs, various objects, and the artist's collages, some very
intricate, cover the walls. Paradjanov developed the collage form
while he was imprisoned.
Be sure to check out other Far Europe and Beyond series installments.