BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:International fare with flair
For first-time restaurant owner Sam Mavyan and 20-year veteran cook Artush Torosyan, the Bacara International Restaurant is a team effort.
“I take care of the front parts,” Mavyan said of the new Brand Boulevard eatery. “The waitresses, customers, orders. My partner, he’s in the back. He is the cook.”
Mavyan met Torosyan through a mutual friend who talked up the cook’s culinary abilities.
“My best — beef stroganoff,” Torosyan said.
The restaurant, 208 N. Brand Blvd., opened Nov. 20. The two owners named it after a famous cabaret and restaurant in Tehran, Iran. Mavyan never visited the place and Torosyan had only a vague recollection of his visit.
“It was almost 1966, I forgot everything,” Torosyan said. “That’s 40 years ago.”
But Hayro Harpetyan, who will perform his one-man show at Bacara Mondays through Thursdays, remembered the place well.
“It was one of the best nightclubs in Tehran,” Harpetyan said. “That was six or 10 times bigger than here.”
Harpetyan played at the Bacara in Iran for seven years in the 1970s. He plays the keyboard, saxophone, flute and the nai, a Persian flute-like instrument.
“My style is smoother, romantic,” he said. “People don’t like too much jazz, too much improvisation. But if you play a melody, they know it. They feel good.”
Soothing music best fits the restaurant’s milieu, said Harpetyan, who will play a mix of Spanish, French, Persian and Italian music as well as some American favorites. The soft lighting and reprints of impressionist and cubist art are touches made by Mavyan.
Bacara is Mavyan’s first venture into the restaurant business. His last occupation was designing and selling custom decorations and art pieces, such as wood art, glass art, tiles and mosaics.
“I like changes,” he said. “People every day learn something special. It’s hard to explain, but I like change.”
The transition to the food business was difficult but he has enjoyed working with people and seeing his touches, Mavyan said.
“I like seeing my job,” he said. “If I make something for a customer, I never see it again. Here, I enjoy looking at my work.”
For more information, call the Bacara International Restaurant at (818) 241-3777.