From Beirut to the Gulf, Armenian cuisine expands its reach

It is no longer a surprise to see successful female entrepreneurs. However, when one comes across them in the food and beverage sector that can still often arch an eyebrow. Aline Kamakian, the cofounder of Beirut’s now famous Armenian restaurant Mayrig, is now looking to open branches in other countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

During an interview with the Entreprenergy podcast, Kamakian, who entered the business world at the age of 17, she shared her ups and downs as a female in the business world.

Now also the cofounder of FIG Holding, an insurance and investment consultancy, she started to work after her father passed away, soon entering the insurance field. It was in 1993 when she decided to follow her favorite quote “believe in your capacities and adapt”, that she decided to change her life.

Creating Mayrig

She hadn’t previously had any experience in the dining field. She didn’t know how to run a restaurant, how to coordinate meals, or how to price them. However, as she was preparing Armenian food for a family lunch one day, she and her cofounder Serge Maacaron took the decision to open an Armenian restaurant, something, that at the time, no one else was specializing in.

In one week, Kamakian and Maacaron managed to rent a venue and started working in it at once, gathering traditional Armenian food recipes from mothers, trying them at home to decide which ones to add to the menu.

Original article by Abdulghani Kataya

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From Beirut to the Gulf, Armenian cuisine expands its reach