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LITTLE SPACE, BIG BUSINESS: FROM AYNTAP TO YEREVAN ON "ARMENIAN PIZZA"
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
14.09.12 | 15:18
Layers of pale, roundish dough get strokes of color as a woman's
fingers smoothly spread spicy minced meat over the flat dough. It's
ready to be baked. The woman puts the discs on 'elevator' trays that
take them upstairs, then she cries out: "Receive!"
A man stands by the big oven on the ground floor and greets the lift
that's coming from the basement. With dance-like fluidity he takes the
ready dough circles and with equally light and smooth movements puts
them into the red-hot oven. In a few minutes hot aromatic lahmajoun
is ready to be served.
"We have only 20 sq. m. of space. I decided to use it to its best,
which is a typical Armenian trait - adjusting to the situation and
doing the impossible. I'm following Archimedes rule: 'give me a
fulcrum and I'll move the Erath'," says 51-year-old Sargis Grboyan,
offering some of the tasty lahmajoun right off the oven.
He says that translated from Arabic lahmajoun means "dough and meat",
in Armenian it's called "msashort", meaning "covered with meat color".
Some might call it "Armenian pizza". One of the most popular kinds
is Ayntap (a city in Western Armenia) lahmajoun.
"After the Genocide they emigrated to Syria and other Arabic countries
taking their cuisine with them. There msashort turned into lahmajoun.
During the 1946-47 wave of repatriation Syrian Armenians brought
the tradition to Eastern Armenia," says Sargis, who is from Ayntap
by roots.
Grboyan's parents repatriated to Armenia in 1947. His father Yenok
Grboyan turned to the Soviet authorities asking for a piece of land in
Yerevan's Kilikia district, where he could build a house overlooking
the Biblical Mount Ararat.
"They satisfied my father's request, although Kilikia district back
then was nothing but a bare hill. It was difficult for my parents to
adjust to the Soviet regime; they had come back but regretted the
decision and the only thing keeping them from leaving was that it
was their motherland. When Armenia gained independence, the family
started thinking about founding a private business," recalls Grboyan.
Repatriates brought new culture to Armenia. Eastern coffee (now
often referred to as Armenian) was a real discovery for the locals,
as where lahmajoun, ishli kyufta, tabuleh, gari yarakh, surborak,
etc., which are now among favorites of the locals.
Grboyan recalls how their neighbors would come to their place for
a treat of the aromatic lahmajoun every time his mom would make
it, because the inviting smell of it went far beyond their little
hospitable house. This gave an idea to Sargis and his brother Vazgen
Grboyan - buy a small place in the city and found a lahmajoun business.
With a background in mechanics, Grboyan, without any training on how
to run a business or any knowledge of marketing techniques, somehow
found the key to success.
"In 2001 we opened Mer Taghy (Our District). For the first 25 days we
worked for free, treating people with our lahmajoun. The first month
we used 5 kilos of meet, the second - 10 kg, then up to 25 kg. People
were curious, they would taste and ask: 'This is such tasty lahmajoun,
where do they make it?'," tells Grboyan.
Today Mer Taghy has many regular visitors, who go there not only
for the lahmajoun, but to meet Sargis. The conversation with him
keeps being interrupted by "Sargis jan, hello, how are you?", as
customers come by to greet him, or "Sargis jan, I have come to have
some lahmajoun and a little chat with you", "Sargis jan, tomorrow
I'll be sending 15 people to you, they are visiting from America", etc.
"I like talking to people, making jokes, finding out where they are
from by family roots, treat them. When people are in good mood their
palate is more sensitive to the taste of food," says Grboyan and adds:
"Our most important principle is hospitality. And when showing your
hospitality, you shouldn't expect anything in response."
Mer Taghy has become a small meeting place fro Diaspora Armenians.
They come here to eat, to talk, to discuss issues, to help each other.
Grboyan says that "with this lahmajoun I have traveled around the
world - China, France, Aleppo, Syria, Beirut, Egypt, America...
Tufayans, a wealthy Egyptian-Armenian family, who have major bread
factories in Florida, wrote a $44,000 check right here and gave me
a car - that black BMW, X 5 standing over there by the sidewalk."
Grboyan is also the chairman of Ayntap union of comptatriots. They
have connections with Ayntap natives living in different Armenian
communities across the world; there are also philanthropists among
them who assist Armenia.
"There are more wealthy people among Ayntap natives than others. And
wealth doesn't come by chance, it is earned. Ayntap people are a
little crafty, but smart and resourceful in business, they are good
learners," he says.
Many of the high-ranking officials and law-makers prefer Mer Taghy
to luxurious fancy restaurants.
"Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Serzh Sargsyan's brother Levon Sargsyan come
here. Once the prime minister came to have lahmajoun and asked:
"Sargis, you have made a good name, but by how many percent do you
evade taxes? Half serious, half joking, I said: 10 percent. He said:
How about more honestly? I said: 25 percent. He said: Isn't it too
much? I said: "So for you it is a period of transition, but not for
me?" He said: Bravo!" tells Sargis.
He is looking through the thick albums with his customers' photographs
and notes about the Mer Taghy and the tasty lahmajoun. He stops when
he reaches the photo of Gilbert Kerkerian, former deputy mayor of
Marseilles, due to whose efforts a monument to the victims of the
Armenian genocide was erected there and one of the streets was called
Genocide. Grboyan has placed a similar sign on the street where Met
Taghy is located.
"Kerkerian came to Armenia and visited Mer Taghy. He came across the
familiar sign and was astonished. I was at a wedding party that day,
when I suddenly got a call telling me to come back as there was someone
asking for me. Our acquaintance has turned into great friendship,"
recalls Grboyan, with warm affection.
There days the little bakery receives orders for 1,500 lahmajoun, which
takes around 80-100 kilos of beef. The business has been expanding,
but is still run from the 20 sq. m premise.
"There is a phrase I like saying - my space doesn't grow, but my
business does. There are those when the premise is big, but there is
little business. When a young man is conscripted, he says he's going
to become a general. Big goals generate enthusiasm and aspiration,
if you set good goals you will have the energy and with willingness
to work hard. Everything can be achieved," says Grboyan.
From: A. Papazian
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
14.09.12 | 15:18
Layers of pale, roundish dough get strokes of color as a woman's
fingers smoothly spread spicy minced meat over the flat dough. It's
ready to be baked. The woman puts the discs on 'elevator' trays that
take them upstairs, then she cries out: "Receive!"
A man stands by the big oven on the ground floor and greets the lift
that's coming from the basement. With dance-like fluidity he takes the
ready dough circles and with equally light and smooth movements puts
them into the red-hot oven. In a few minutes hot aromatic lahmajoun
is ready to be served.
"We have only 20 sq. m. of space. I decided to use it to its best,
which is a typical Armenian trait - adjusting to the situation and
doing the impossible. I'm following Archimedes rule: 'give me a
fulcrum and I'll move the Erath'," says 51-year-old Sargis Grboyan,
offering some of the tasty lahmajoun right off the oven.
He says that translated from Arabic lahmajoun means "dough and meat",
in Armenian it's called "msashort", meaning "covered with meat color".
Some might call it "Armenian pizza". One of the most popular kinds
is Ayntap (a city in Western Armenia) lahmajoun.
"After the Genocide they emigrated to Syria and other Arabic countries
taking their cuisine with them. There msashort turned into lahmajoun.
During the 1946-47 wave of repatriation Syrian Armenians brought
the tradition to Eastern Armenia," says Sargis, who is from Ayntap
by roots.
Grboyan's parents repatriated to Armenia in 1947. His father Yenok
Grboyan turned to the Soviet authorities asking for a piece of land in
Yerevan's Kilikia district, where he could build a house overlooking
the Biblical Mount Ararat.
"They satisfied my father's request, although Kilikia district back
then was nothing but a bare hill. It was difficult for my parents to
adjust to the Soviet regime; they had come back but regretted the
decision and the only thing keeping them from leaving was that it
was their motherland. When Armenia gained independence, the family
started thinking about founding a private business," recalls Grboyan.
Repatriates brought new culture to Armenia. Eastern coffee (now
often referred to as Armenian) was a real discovery for the locals,
as where lahmajoun, ishli kyufta, tabuleh, gari yarakh, surborak,
etc., which are now among favorites of the locals.
Grboyan recalls how their neighbors would come to their place for
a treat of the aromatic lahmajoun every time his mom would make
it, because the inviting smell of it went far beyond their little
hospitable house. This gave an idea to Sargis and his brother Vazgen
Grboyan - buy a small place in the city and found a lahmajoun business.
With a background in mechanics, Grboyan, without any training on how
to run a business or any knowledge of marketing techniques, somehow
found the key to success.
"In 2001 we opened Mer Taghy (Our District). For the first 25 days we
worked for free, treating people with our lahmajoun. The first month
we used 5 kilos of meet, the second - 10 kg, then up to 25 kg. People
were curious, they would taste and ask: 'This is such tasty lahmajoun,
where do they make it?'," tells Grboyan.
Today Mer Taghy has many regular visitors, who go there not only
for the lahmajoun, but to meet Sargis. The conversation with him
keeps being interrupted by "Sargis jan, hello, how are you?", as
customers come by to greet him, or "Sargis jan, I have come to have
some lahmajoun and a little chat with you", "Sargis jan, tomorrow
I'll be sending 15 people to you, they are visiting from America", etc.
"I like talking to people, making jokes, finding out where they are
from by family roots, treat them. When people are in good mood their
palate is more sensitive to the taste of food," says Grboyan and adds:
"Our most important principle is hospitality. And when showing your
hospitality, you shouldn't expect anything in response."
Mer Taghy has become a small meeting place fro Diaspora Armenians.
They come here to eat, to talk, to discuss issues, to help each other.
Grboyan says that "with this lahmajoun I have traveled around the
world - China, France, Aleppo, Syria, Beirut, Egypt, America...
Tufayans, a wealthy Egyptian-Armenian family, who have major bread
factories in Florida, wrote a $44,000 check right here and gave me
a car - that black BMW, X 5 standing over there by the sidewalk."
Grboyan is also the chairman of Ayntap union of comptatriots. They
have connections with Ayntap natives living in different Armenian
communities across the world; there are also philanthropists among
them who assist Armenia.
"There are more wealthy people among Ayntap natives than others. And
wealth doesn't come by chance, it is earned. Ayntap people are a
little crafty, but smart and resourceful in business, they are good
learners," he says.
Many of the high-ranking officials and law-makers prefer Mer Taghy
to luxurious fancy restaurants.
"Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Serzh Sargsyan's brother Levon Sargsyan come
here. Once the prime minister came to have lahmajoun and asked:
"Sargis, you have made a good name, but by how many percent do you
evade taxes? Half serious, half joking, I said: 10 percent. He said:
How about more honestly? I said: 25 percent. He said: Isn't it too
much? I said: "So for you it is a period of transition, but not for
me?" He said: Bravo!" tells Sargis.
He is looking through the thick albums with his customers' photographs
and notes about the Mer Taghy and the tasty lahmajoun. He stops when
he reaches the photo of Gilbert Kerkerian, former deputy mayor of
Marseilles, due to whose efforts a monument to the victims of the
Armenian genocide was erected there and one of the streets was called
Genocide. Grboyan has placed a similar sign on the street where Met
Taghy is located.
"Kerkerian came to Armenia and visited Mer Taghy. He came across the
familiar sign and was astonished. I was at a wedding party that day,
when I suddenly got a call telling me to come back as there was someone
asking for me. Our acquaintance has turned into great friendship,"
recalls Grboyan, with warm affection.
There days the little bakery receives orders for 1,500 lahmajoun, which
takes around 80-100 kilos of beef. The business has been expanding,
but is still run from the 20 sq. m premise.
"There is a phrase I like saying - my space doesn't grow, but my
business does. There are those when the premise is big, but there is
little business. When a young man is conscripted, he says he's going
to become a general. Big goals generate enthusiasm and aspiration,
if you set good goals you will have the energy and with willingness
to work hard. Everything can be achieved," says Grboyan.
From: A. Papazian