Remember the Almayass

This weeks review from Pete Wells reveals a family affair in Flatiron.  Almayass opened earlier this year on 21st Street and is operated largely in part by an Armenian family.  "In fact, family values set the tone for the whole experience of eating at Almayass. At times that is refreshing; occasionally, like one’s own family, it can drive you slightly bananas."  "One waiter, for instance, played the overbearing uncle."  "Another reminded us of the kind of shiftless cousin who never stays focused."

The original Almayass opened in Beirut in 1997.  Fast forward a decade and a half and the restaurant is operating in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, New York City, and opening soon in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.  Here in New York, the cooking could use an upgrade, "Meats and seafood at Almayass tended to be overcooked; grilled prawns one night were so tough that I sliced them with effort and swallowed them with regret."

The food and the service weren't worthy of more than one star, but Wells is happy to have an Armenian restaurant to help answer his question, "Where have all the Armenian restaurants gone? A fixture of the city’s dining scene 50 years ago, they had all but vanished by the end of the last century."