Way back in 2011, I introduced Christine Vartanian-Datian to the readers of The Armenian Kitchen. In the story I mentioned that Christine’s love of cooking was passed down from her grandmother and mother. Another family member, Christine’s cousin, David Vartanian, also inherited the ‘cooking gene’. He is a highly regarded chef at The Vintage Press in Visalia, CA.
I haven’t been to the Fresno, CA area in almost 50 years (yikes!), but if I ever do get back there, I will certainly pay a visit to Chef Vartanian’s restaurant. (Please read the full details below.)
Christine offered the following recipe from Chef David for The Armenian Kitchen to share. Please enjoy!
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I grew up in Visalia and one of my absolute favorite things to eat was the Shish Kebab sandwich served at a small hole-in-the-wall Armenian restaurant named Hagopians. The only other place that served this sandwich was The Vintage Press. In 1999, I was visiting the area and found out Hagopians had closed and the Vintage Press no longer served the sandwich. I explained my "dire" situation to David and after much begging, he told me to come in the next day. (Saturday) between lunch and dinner hours. He fixed a shish kebab sandwich for me! I sat on their patio and savored every. single. bite. If I remember correctly, it took a couple of hours (if you've ever had one of these sandwiches, they are not small). All these years later, I have come very close to replicating the lamb and the finely chopped parsley/onion sprinkled on top. However, I cannot find the bread! The closest I've been able to guess is the bread used for a Muffaletta.
I've done google searches (which is how I came across your website) and when I saw the name David Vartanian, I knew I had to try! Would you PLEASE ask him what the bread was that both he and Hagopians used for those sandwiches? I know it was a large round loaf because each sandwich was a triangle cut-quarter of the loaf, If ANYBODY knows where I can get the bread , please, please, please let me know! I'm ready to try a lot of these recipes here and I'm really glad I stumbled across your website. Also ... YAY Vintage Press. I sincerely hope you are doing well through this pandemic. I wish I could visit but I'm in Texas now and traveling isn't happening too soon.
Thank you!!
Hi Penny, What a great Shish Kebab sandwich story! Aside from calling the restaurant (559-733-3033) during their business hours, I couldn't find a way to email them to ask. Your best bet is to call them. I'm sure someone will be able to answer your bread question. If you do find out, would you be kind enough to let us know what the answer is? Thanks!