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The Arlington Advocate, MA
Oct 20 2013
New cafe in Belmont will offer Mediterranean-inspired cuisine
By Joanna Tzouvelis
Belmont, Mass. -
WHAT Seta's Café
WHERE 271 Belmont St., Belmont
OWNER Seta Dakessian of Watertown
MENU OPTIONS Take out, dine in or catering
HOURS Tuesday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m. to
6 p.m., Closed Sunday and Monday.
SEATS 20
Lovers of ethnic food have a new place to dine in Belmont. Seta's
Café, 271 Belmont St., officially opeeds Oct. 18. Owner Seta
Dakessian, 39, comes from a long line of bakers. Her parents, Mary and
Kevork, owned a pizza shop, bakery and café in Worcester for 20 years
offering Armenian food, breads and pastries. Her paternal grandfather
was also one of two bakers in the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem, where
they baked pita bread and served as the communal bakery for the
families living in the quarter. Her maternal grandfather would sell
paklava as a street vendor in Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon. Her grandmother
rolled the phyllo dough with a dowl and made the paklava.
Dakessian, who received her culinary arts degree from Johnson and
Wales University and has been a vendor at farmers markets the past
four years, plans to use locally sourced ingredients when possible for
the menu items baked from scratch in house. She plans to offer
seasonal dishes, which will change often, as well as a daily menu
including a selection of soups, stews, specialty sandwiches and
salads. On Saturdays, a brunch menu will offer several options such as
eggs and Lebny, grilled halloumi cheese and olives. It will be served
with homemade lavash bread and a plate of tomato, cucumber and mint.
"It's the way my parents would serve Sunday breakfast in our home,"
said Dakessian.
Dakessian hopes her new café will become the neighborhood place to go
as well as a destination for people to come and have a bite to eat or
take a meal home for their family.She was recently interviewed by the
Belmont Citizen-Herald about her new business venture.
What inspired you to go into your line of work?
I grew up in the restaurant world. My earliest memory of cooking was
when I was 5 years old. My father used to take me to the pizza shop
before taking me to school to make the dough for pita bread. I watched
him make the dough and then he would give me a piece and say, " Now
this is perfect. This is what the dough should feel like." He created
dough based on instinct and the feel of the dough. There was no
science, which goes against every rule of baking bread, but he didn't
know that. When I was 10, my parents opened the cafe. Our menu was
designed on dishes my mother would cook for us at home. When I
graduated high school, I vowed I would never own a restaurant. You're
work never ends, it's stressful, there's little money to be made and
at times it's very challenging, but I soon realized that there wasn't
anything else I wanted to do. The food system in this country is out
of whack. There's so much crap out there, so much processed food that
people have forgotten what it was like to go somewhere and get a good,
home-cooked meal. Nothing fancy, just a simple meal made with good
ingredients. With that being said, I am a small part of this change.
More and more small food purveyors are popping up and going back to
the way it used to be when we sourced locally and cooked seasonally.
Who has had the greatest influence on your career path?
There are several people who have influenced me: My parents who taught
me how to cook and bake at an early age, my godfather who always
challenges me and gets me to think outside the box, my friends, some
amateurs, some professional who I can bounce ideas off and my
customers, who are honest and tell me what works and what doesn't.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love making food that makes people happy. The greatest compliment I
get is when a guest says " I haven't had this dish in years. It's just
like the way my grandmother/mother/aunt used to make it. I haven't had
it in years." It brings that person back to a happy time in his or her
life, perhaps when the whole family would get together for Sunday
supper or the one or two holidays when everyone would get together. I
hope that in years to come, people remember their time at the cafe and
the meal they shared with their friends and family.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/newsnow/x1565402915/New-cafe-in-Belmont-will-offer-Mediterranean-inspired-cuisine
From: A. Papazian
Oct 20 2013
New cafe in Belmont will offer Mediterranean-inspired cuisine
By Joanna Tzouvelis
Belmont, Mass. -
WHAT Seta's Café
WHERE 271 Belmont St., Belmont
OWNER Seta Dakessian of Watertown
MENU OPTIONS Take out, dine in or catering
HOURS Tuesday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m. to
6 p.m., Closed Sunday and Monday.
SEATS 20
Lovers of ethnic food have a new place to dine in Belmont. Seta's
Café, 271 Belmont St., officially opeeds Oct. 18. Owner Seta
Dakessian, 39, comes from a long line of bakers. Her parents, Mary and
Kevork, owned a pizza shop, bakery and café in Worcester for 20 years
offering Armenian food, breads and pastries. Her paternal grandfather
was also one of two bakers in the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem, where
they baked pita bread and served as the communal bakery for the
families living in the quarter. Her maternal grandfather would sell
paklava as a street vendor in Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon. Her grandmother
rolled the phyllo dough with a dowl and made the paklava.
Dakessian, who received her culinary arts degree from Johnson and
Wales University and has been a vendor at farmers markets the past
four years, plans to use locally sourced ingredients when possible for
the menu items baked from scratch in house. She plans to offer
seasonal dishes, which will change often, as well as a daily menu
including a selection of soups, stews, specialty sandwiches and
salads. On Saturdays, a brunch menu will offer several options such as
eggs and Lebny, grilled halloumi cheese and olives. It will be served
with homemade lavash bread and a plate of tomato, cucumber and mint.
"It's the way my parents would serve Sunday breakfast in our home,"
said Dakessian.
Dakessian hopes her new café will become the neighborhood place to go
as well as a destination for people to come and have a bite to eat or
take a meal home for their family.She was recently interviewed by the
Belmont Citizen-Herald about her new business venture.
What inspired you to go into your line of work?
I grew up in the restaurant world. My earliest memory of cooking was
when I was 5 years old. My father used to take me to the pizza shop
before taking me to school to make the dough for pita bread. I watched
him make the dough and then he would give me a piece and say, " Now
this is perfect. This is what the dough should feel like." He created
dough based on instinct and the feel of the dough. There was no
science, which goes against every rule of baking bread, but he didn't
know that. When I was 10, my parents opened the cafe. Our menu was
designed on dishes my mother would cook for us at home. When I
graduated high school, I vowed I would never own a restaurant. You're
work never ends, it's stressful, there's little money to be made and
at times it's very challenging, but I soon realized that there wasn't
anything else I wanted to do. The food system in this country is out
of whack. There's so much crap out there, so much processed food that
people have forgotten what it was like to go somewhere and get a good,
home-cooked meal. Nothing fancy, just a simple meal made with good
ingredients. With that being said, I am a small part of this change.
More and more small food purveyors are popping up and going back to
the way it used to be when we sourced locally and cooked seasonally.
Who has had the greatest influence on your career path?
There are several people who have influenced me: My parents who taught
me how to cook and bake at an early age, my godfather who always
challenges me and gets me to think outside the box, my friends, some
amateurs, some professional who I can bounce ideas off and my
customers, who are honest and tell me what works and what doesn't.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love making food that makes people happy. The greatest compliment I
get is when a guest says " I haven't had this dish in years. It's just
like the way my grandmother/mother/aunt used to make it. I haven't had
it in years." It brings that person back to a happy time in his or her
life, perhaps when the whole family would get together for Sunday
supper or the one or two holidays when everyone would get together. I
hope that in years to come, people remember their time at the cafe and
the meal they shared with their friends and family.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/newsnow/x1565402915/New-cafe-in-Belmont-will-offer-Mediterranean-inspired-cuisine
From: A. Papazian