Aghavnadzor, Vayots Dzor Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Habitat for Humanity 2006

I came back from seeing my Mum off a few hours ago and just wanted to comment on the Square One restaurant that’s newly opened there. It takes a lot to impress me and not least because the eateries in Yerevan are generally tedious, uninspiring and boring. I also have to admit that I’ve never really been a fan of Square One’s restaurant on Yerevan’s Central Abovian Street although I admire the business accumen of — and the attention to quality of service from — the owners .

Stepan Panosian, 29, and Sam Samuelian, 28, are from Lebanon. But Stepan was raised and lived for 24 years in Cyprus. They met as students abroad and it seemed right that when both decided to repatriate they should set up a partnership in Armenia.

Sam moved here in 2001, continuing his studies for a MBA at the American University of Armenia. Stepan came here later, in February 2003.

[…]

A year ago they opened their business venture together, Square One, a stylish restaurant that has become hugely popular with Yerevan’s young adults.

About 300-400 customers visit Square One every day attracted by its American and European menu, high-quality customer service, music and atmosphere.

Each customer spends about $4.50, say the restaurateurs, adding that hygiene and hospitality is their policy at all times.

Sam and Stepan admit that running a business in Armenia might be difficult at first, as one has to learn new written and unwritten laws, but after some time it gets easier.

“Bureaucracy is time consuming and makes your work less effective,” says Stepan. “Besides, people with Soviet-style education are mostly unprepared as a labor force, while representatives of the younger generation seem to be more ready to learn new things and change.”

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Just checked my Yahoo account and found an email from Indiana-based Irina Petrosian who’s just pulished a book on Armenian cuisine. Interestingly, she also drew my attention to her blog on the same subject matter at http://www.armenianfood.blogspot.com.

Armenians love barbecue, called khorovats in Armenian. That’s one reason the “Meat and Fish” section is one of the biggest chapters in our book, and rightfully so. If you want to see an Armenian’s eyes light up with joy, have a big barbecue party on a beautiful sunny day. And that’s exactly what we did.

Roadside khorovats stands are as common in Armenia as McDonalds restaurants are in the US. And, no, there are no McDonalds in Armenia. If you visit Armenia’s beautiful Lake Sevan, it seems there is a khorovats vendor along each and every mile of the lakeside highway. An Armenian barbecue is usually made with big, thick cuts of pork, and is cooked over the hot coals from a hardwood fire.

So, we invited our friends and family for a big khorovats picnic, a full day of fun in the sun with lots of good eats. Our chef-of-honor was Sarik Simonian, a self-proclaimed champion khorovats and kebab maker from Yerevan. Sarik means “Little Mountain”, but he’s the big guy when it comes to barbecue. If you ever fly to Armenia, you’ll probably pass Sarik’s home on your way out of the main Zvartnots airport.

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The Messenger reports that there has been yet another crackdown on widespread tax evasion in Georgia, but this time the target is Tbilisi’s nightclubs and restaurants. The move apparently follows a series of raids made on the Georgian capital’s eateries in November.

Two nightspots - Noa Noa and the Music Hall; two restaurants - Metelitsa and Geostar; and several cafes were sealed on Wednesday and remain sealed until a court issues a warrant to allow an inspection.

“We believe that the tax declarations filed by these establishments show a turnover that is much smaller that what these places are actually taking in. Our primary demand is that the real turnover be accounted for and the correct amount of taxes be paid,” the deputy head of Tax Department Koba Abuladze announced on Wednesday.

[…]

The tax department seems to be continuing the aggressive policy that was started two months ago by the Financial Police. On November 28 Financial Police agents shut down 15 out of a group of 50 well-known restaurants in Tbilisi that were suspected of tax evasion.

“For several years, a group of approximately 600 large restaurants which are registered in Tbilisi have consistently declared a total monthly turnover of only GEL 2.2 million. This simply can’t be correct as we know, for example, that McDonalds is 100 percent white and legal and its monthly turnover accounts for one third of this sum,” the head of the Finance Police David Kezerashvili told journalists in November after the first round of raids.

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While the world’s media watches continuing opposition protests Azerbaijan, another danger hangs over Armenia’s eastern neighbor. According to UPI, quoting The Times newspaper, jellyfish accidently imported into the Caspian from the United States are threatening one of Azerbaijan’s most famous exports after oil — caviar.

The mnemiopsis leidyi lives on plankton and it eats so much and multiplies so fast that the kilka, the small fish in the Caspian that feed the larger fish, have been disappearing, the Times of London reports. Unlike the kilka, the mnemiopsis has no predators in the Caspian.

Mehman Akhundov of the Azerbaijan Fishery Research Institute said that sturgeon, the source of caviar, are producing fewer eggs.

‘You can imagine how hard it is for the beluga to feed now that the kilka have gone,’ Akhundov told The Times. ‘When we catch them, we see that their stomachs are empty.’

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Healthy Food Recipes has a recipe for lahmajoon so if any of you are outside of Armenia, give it a try. I’ve got three 24-hour lahmajoon places within 2 minutes of my apartment — part of a chain that seems quite prolific in the center of Yerevan at least. Okay, so they’re not really 24-hours and are usually closed past midnight and sometimes they’re open in the morning but I’m told that they haven’t started work yet but…

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