Hum: Yan’s Restaurant introduces Armenian and Georgian fare to Ottawa

Savvy diners at Yan’s Restaurant on Murray Street grab a massive, pleated dumpling by what you might call its doughy tail. They flip them upside down, take small nibbles and then nimbly suck out the broth. Only then do they take larger bites of the dumplings and their beefy fillings.

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That’s how these dumplings are eaten back home in Georgia — the Caucasus region country, not the southern U.S. state. There, the dumplings are known as khinkali, and to eat them with cutlery, squandering their juices, is frowned upon. It’s simply not done.

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That’s one of numerous pleasant discoveries that I recently made at Yan’s, which opened in December. It’s Ottawa’s first restaurant to serve not only khinkali ($5 or $5.50, depending on the filling) but also a menu focused on the food of Georgia and Armenia, two neighbouring countries to the east of Turkey.

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Yan’s owners and chefs, the Armenian couple Armen Dalibaldyan and his wife Gohar Ghumashyan, immigrated to Toronto in 2019, where they worked in major financial institutions. They and their children eventually moved to Ottawa because homes here are more affordable. Then they changed careers, deciding to open a restaurant, in part because Armenian and Georgian food were not available in Ottawa before Yan’s opened.

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armenian woman — Co-owner and chef Goha Ghumashyan at her restaurant Yan’s Restaurant, which serves Armenian and Georgian food. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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“This is a niche that is actually empty,” says Dalibaldyan.

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Among Yan’s customers are not only expat Armenians and Georgians who are well-versed in eating khinkali but also emigres from other post-Soviet states, including recently arrived Ukrainians, he says.

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Initially, the couple’s dream was to swap 9-to-5 work for running a small cafe. But then they came across their Murray Street location, long vacated by the pizza place Fiazza Fresh Fired.

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Yan's — Yan’s Restaurant is on Murray Street in the ByWard Market. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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“We saw the big pizza oven… We can make anything in it,” says Dalibaldyan. The oven’s potential prompted the couple to think bigger, and they went ahead with opening Yan’s, a much-renovated space that seats 70 and has a 36-seat patio to come.

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The restaurant’s name reflects the fact that Armenian surnames end in “yan.” While Dalibaldyan and his wife are Armenian, they know how to make Georgian food and their menu is a 50-50 split between the two cuisines.

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From the former pizza oven emerges two signature Georgian breads. Khachapoori lazoori ($25) is a round, fluffy bread filled with melted cheese. The more interesting and indulgent pick is Khachapoori ajarooli ($30), a boat-shaped bread, laden with salty-sour sulguni cheese, butter and egg yolk, all of which is tossed table-side.

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I’ve also started dinner more than satisfactorily at Yan’s with tolma ($24), Armenia’s version of grape leaves stuffed with minced meat, rice and herbs, as well as satsivi ($16), a Georgian dish of chicken in a sauce of ground walnuts, garlic and spices that was served cold. More substantial was the garden platter ($48) that whetted the appetites of four of us with an array of dips, grilled mushrooms, carrot salad, marinated zucchini, cabbage and cauliflower.