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A museum inside the restaurant. Taste combines Constantinople cuisine and Ara Guler’s works under one roof

07.05.2021

He came to his homeland to bring the tale of Constantinople to Yerevan, settled here, and decided to combine the dishes of Constantinople and the photos of Ara Guler under one roof. Thus, Dayk Mirijanyan opened the “Jashag (Taste)” restaurant in the center of Yerevan.

It is the Armenian cuisine, the cuisine of Constantinople, in its own style, and I wanted to bring the “Jash (Lunch)” to Armenia. Ara and I came to Armenia in 2013, he had his exhibition, we wanted to open a small museum here.

The “Jash (Lunch)” and Ara Guler “AG” joined and turned into “Jashag (Taste)”. At the same time, the “ag” is the water source, and the eye, and Guler is the “eye of Constantinople”.

Dayk got acquainted with the world-famous Constantinople-Armenian photographer-journalist, Ara Guler, at the Mekhitarist School in Constantinople. They became good friends and decided to create their own business in the homeland. According to Dayk, the important thing in life is for each nation to have its own handwriting, for generations to speak and recognize the Armenians through their work.

I wanted to make it like a house of culture, Constantinople has its own style of table and dishes, it is closer to the styles of the western Mediterranean: Fish, meat, and there are more dishes with olive oil.

Ara Guler was a lover of red wine, which is why the restaurant offers a wide range of Armenian wines in different corners of the restaurant, the menu includes dishes of different cuisines, from seafood to Armenian barbecue. The Constantinople-Armenian businessman also thought about young people and set up a pub-beerhouse next to the restaurant.

I have prepared several sets, one of them is the Constantinople set, without looking for it in the menu for a long time, people can use it to understand the style of Constantinople, which is similar to the cuisine of Aleppo or Beirut with small plates, dishes with different flavors.

Every corner at “Jashag” reminds Constantinople, the Armenians, even the furniture that was in the houses of the Armenians of Constantinople is now here. According to Dayk Mirijanyan, this seems to be a small world in the center of Yerevan.

We had the same furniture in our house, sofas, old chairs, old furniture, different items. I have collected all of them, I wanted to revive the things in our restaurant so that we can tell about our style to both the people of Yerevan and the tourists.

The idea of bringing the tale of Constantinople to Yerevan was prompted by Dayk Mirijanyan. He says that the city creates a unique cultural environment with its daily life, events and people.

For me, the most interesting thing in this city is the cultural life, there are many places in the lap of nature, but the culture inspires me, I am glad to be in Yerevan.

According to the businessman, “Jashag” stands out from all restaurants, as the guests here feel at home. Dayk Mirijanyan emphasizes that living and creating in the homeland is possible for every Armenian.