Dwin prepares lule kebab

"Our menu is not very long. We try to concentrate on the essentials. And Armenians always say they haven't had a long of time to establish a national cuisine because we have always been occupied or were in conflict or whatever, so the easiest thing was to throw meat on the grill!" - Waghagn Ovasapian

Wahagn Ovasapian loves it when guests come by and relinquish all responsibility. When he can just put together a meal for them. And what about vegetarian guests? He finds something for them, too, "Even if 95 percent of Armenians don't understand why someone wouldn't eat meat, there is now at least an Armenian word for 'vegetarian,'" says Wahagn Ovasapian with a chuckle.

Wahagn Ovasapian has deliberately avoided traditional Armenian decorations for the interior design of the restaurant. It is unpretentious, but cozy. However, the name, Dwin, alludes to the connection with Armenia, as it was the name of a provincial capital that no longer exists. But it is also not necessarily recognizable as Armenian – you may be surprised what its origins are.

"We use two different types of meat for the dish Lule Kebab. If we were to only use one type of meat, such as beef, then the consistency wouldn't be the way we'd like. It would be too hard. And if we were to only use lamb, the meat would fall apart on the grill due to its tender consistency." - Wahagn Ovasapian

Wahagn Ovasapian serves lavash along with the popular grilled kebab at his restaurant, Dwin. Lavash is served everywhere in Armenia and is very easy to make. It was orginally baked on the the hot stones of a clay oven as flatbread. Armenian cuisine is one of the oldest in Asia and the oldest in Transcaucasia - which composes the countries south of the main chain of the Caucasus Mountains.