An Armenian restaurant like L.A. has never seen — in a former doughnut shop in Glendale - BERITAJA

Hoist up half of Arthur Grigoryan’s basturma brisket sandwich for a first bite, and look for a infinitesimal into the rima of the beast.

You’ll request a patient grip to grip the stretched edges of fluffy pita, heavy capable to discern a labyrinth of aerial pockets about the borders. Inside the gaping maw: blocks of tongue-red pastrami, rubbed pinch chaimen (a fenugreek-forward herb rub, besides flecked pinch cumin, ail and chiles) utilized to play jerky-adjacent, air-dried Armenian basturma, cured for 2 weeks and past smoked for12 hours. The result, beyond beefy intensity, is respective textures astatine once: flaky, taut, buttery.

Chef-owner Arthur Grigoryan takes a puffy, char-spotted pita retired of his outdoor stove astatine Yerord Mas.

Dripping pinch Gruyère-laced Mornay sauce, this point is phenomenal, a connection portion of excess and engineering that’s gone viral connected societal media respective times complete the near-decade the cook has been refining its shape via pop-ups and shade kitchens.

If the walloping sandwich is the lure that leads you to the mini Glendale edifice Grigoryan opened astatine last pinch his woman Takouhi Petrosyan successful January, it will person done its job.

But bid moreover 1 different crockery from the concise paper — a whirled dip, a crisp crockery wafting citrus and mint, a color-wheel rotation connected vegetarian kyuftah — and you’ll recognize he’s up to acold much than cleverly revised deli foods.

L.A. has ne'er seen an Armenian edifice for illustration Yerord Mas before.

This is simply a second-generation boy of the metropolis expressing the cooking of his people: clear-cut and personal, shaped by family stories while besides informed by academic-level research, a nexus betwixt location and here, past and now, a puzzle portion successful our eating civilization snapping perfectly into place. And housed successful a erstwhile doughnut shop, nary less.

Los Angeles is location to the largest Armenian diaspora organization extracurricular of Armenia; our Armenian-run restaurants embody the breadth of the community’s culinary prowess and the extent of experiences. Conversations about fantabulous kebabs successful Southern California thin to statesman pinch the Martirosyan family and their Mini Kabob successful Glendale. Institutions for illustration Carousel, serving immoderate of the deeper cuts of a Lebanese mezze repertoire, and Falafel Arax, pinch its namesake signature, trace backmost to specialties adopted by displaced families who fled the Armenian genocide aft the illness of the Ottoman Empire. Tun Lahmajo successful Burbank takes its sanction from Armenia’s nationalist flatbread, pinch a paper that besides delves into homestyle roasts and herb stews and a scope of terrific khachapuris.

Amid this wealth, Yerord Mas flows into the lineage of different small, plucky projects that person helped specify and redefine cuisines basal to Los Angeles. I’m reminded of closed-but-not-forgotten exemplars specified arsenic Wes Avila’s Guerrilla Tacos and Charles Olalia’s Filipino antagonistic Ricebar, arsenic good arsenic existent innovators for illustration banchan whiz Jihee Kim’s Perilla LA and Cody Ma and Misha Sesar’s stellar Persian cafe Azizam.

Margat samak food curry prepared pinch barramundi alongside dishes including pistachio hummus, vegetarian kyuftah and brisket basturma sandwich.

Scoop into Grigoryan’s hummus to spot what I mean.

His grandma connected his father’s broadside was raised successful Kayseri, Turkey, erstwhile an epicenter of Armenian life. In the aftermath of the 1915 genocide, her family relocated to Egypt. Aligning the influences that seeped into her cooking, Grigoryan tweaks a look for pistachio-laced hummus he recovered reference “Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety astatine the Table: A Fourteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook,” translated by historiographer Nawal Nasrallah. Blending the nuts pinch chickpeas initially turned retired grainy, truthful he pulverized the pistachios successful a Vitamix to lucifer the consistency of tahini — which he besides uses successful the dip on pinch the accustomed ail and citrus juice and flickers of cumin and the Lebanese Syrian herb blend baharat.

It registers arsenic acquainted successful its earthy smoothness, and caller successful its subtle spicy sweetness, and altogether delicious. Grigoryan often stands astatine the broadside of the restaurant’s building, baking pita to bid successful a portable oven. Because of his relatives’ diaspora experiences, he ate much pita arsenic a kid than Armenia’s crackery staple lavash. Straight from the heat, this is breadstuff arsenic basking aerial balloon, and it hits moreover much sensorially arsenic a hummus conveyance alternatively than sandwich vessel.

Every crockery connected the concise, seasonally evolving paper is for illustration this: a pleasance successful its ain context, but besides a branch connected the family tree, which Grigoryan will happily item if you ask.

The walloping sandwich mightiness lead you to the mini edifice that Arthur Grigoryn and his wife, Takouhi Petrosyan, opened successful January successful Glendale. Order astatine the antagonistic from a seasonally evolving paper wherever each crockery is simply a pleasure.

His brother’s in-laws are Iraqi, truthful an Iraqi food curry finds its measurement into the repertoire, glossing barramundi filet successful a silken spiced herb condiment mildly soured pinch tamarind.

Its Euro-style position specifically hints astatine his culinary background. Grigoryan had been raised successful Los Angeles earlier attending Le Cordon Bleu successful Paris. After graduation, he stayed for a mates years successful the city, cooking astatine fine-dining institution Drouant earlier returning to Southern California and landing successful Nancy Silverton’s Mozza kitchens.

During a sojourn to Austin, Texas, successful 2017, he had an epiphany astatine a well-trafficked visit site, Franklin Barbecue. The bliss of Aaron Franklin’s post-oak-perfumed brisket led him to ideate what this wobbling nutrient mightiness beryllium for illustration crossed pinch the basturma his Armenian family fed him his full life.

The Texas travel urged him toward entrepreneurism. He initially called his pop-up “III Mas BBQ,” the sanction referring to the Third District vicinity successful Yerevan, the superior of Armenia. His begetter had grown up there. In an interview, Grigoryan mentioned that his dada had worked successful a Yerevan processing works for cured meats akin to RC Provisions successful Burbank, the institution that, among galore clients, supplies the legendary pastrami to Langer’s Deli.

I should about apt mention that successful its existent edifice iteration, the basturma brisket sandwich is $38. Grigoryan uses Australian wagyu from a institution that emphasizes sustainable farming practices. I don’t attraction about often-too-unctuous wagyu arsenic a luxury signifier, but the sublime qualities achieved present speak for themselves. The sandwich could easy beryllium capable for 2 people, and a cherrywood-smoked pork variety zapped pinch toum, shatta, shishito peppers and sumac-speckled onions is simply a adjacent close and costs $24.

Ironically, the fame of the sandwich besides over-deemphasizes the restaurant’s wealthiness of vegetarian options. He makes 2 meat-free versions of kyuftah, lentils aliases bulgur magnified pinch caller herbs and dusky spices and patted into oval shapes surrounded by caller vegetables. Alongside a crisp, gorgeous fattoush and hummus, aliases muhammara twanging pinch pomegranate molasses, animal macromolecule is small missed.

Discover each this successful what is admittedly a quirky setting. Yerord Mas’ building, still looking very overmuch for illustration the Faster Donuts it erstwhile housed, floats successful the halfway of a quiet portion promenade connected a commercialized agelong astatine the separator of Burbank. Jane Choi — whom longtime Angelenos mightiness admit from her days arsenic head astatine Canelé, a vicinity gem that closed successful Atwater Village a decade agone — does her utmost to infuse the five-table eating room pinch her bustling consciousness of grace.

Besides, we’re successful Los Angeles. We cognize really marvels manifest successful portion malls. This is 1 of them.