Revamped Newton Restaurant Offers Local Take on Mediterranean Cuisine

Although they have a lot of pride for their Armenian heritage, Ruzan and Gurgen Baghdasaryan had never planned to open the .

In 2008, after the couple closed their ten-year-old Waltham restaurant, Peter’s Pizza and Wings, they returned to their native Armenia for a few months.

When they came back to the US, the Baghdasaryans opened Erik’s Pizza and Wings on Commonwealth Avenue. Like their Waltham restaurant, this location focused on typical pizza house fare but also featured a few traditional Armenian and Russian dishes that were not on the regular menu.

Then something unexpected happened.

“We had a different menu for Russian people, for Armenian people,” Ruzan explains. “But whoever came in, the Americans, saw what they were eating and they asked for things from this menu. We had more success with that, so we decided to change.”

But shifting the culinary focus of their restaurant wasn’t enough. The Baghdasaryans also wanted a new look, so they did a complete renovation. Gone was the counter for ordering pizzas, and in came a bathroom and more comfortable seating. They also acquired a beer and wine license and made space for a few well-displayed bottles.

Newton’s restaurant scene is constantly changing, and new restaurants seem to open almost monthly in our city. But rarely does the opening of a restaurant bring out local political luminaries, as did Mediterranean Grill’s grand opening on April 23.

In attendance at the festive event were Mayor Setti Warren, Senior Economic Development Planner Amanda Stout, as well as Aldermen Ruthanne Fuller and Ted Hess-Mahan. The fare included many of the foods now featured on the menu plus some additional goodies.

The event was even covered by the local Russian-language newspaper, Russkaya Reklama.

But now that the festivities are over, Ruzan and Gurgen can get back to focusing on the most important aspect of their new restaurant --† the food.

Ruzan explains what sets their offerings apart from other Mediterranean cuisine in the area.

“, for example, is Mediterranean from Lebanon,” Ruzan says. “We’re Mediterranean from Armenia. Their spices, which are coming from their Lebanese ‘cousins,’ are totally different. It’s a totally different taste.”

Using recipes handed down from Ruzan’s “Tati” (grandmother) who still lives in Armenia, the Baghdasaryans craft every dish fresh, every day. Soups are made daily in small batches, lamb or beef lula kabobs (ground meat with traditional spices) are grilled to order and even hiinkaly (small lamb “ravioli”) are made on the spot for eager patrons.

This sort of personalized cuisine does require time, though.

“People may wait a little bit, a little longer for their food,” concedes Ruzan. “But we don’t have anything prepared, and we’re making every order to order. So it’s fresh, especially for you.”

While the recipes may be traditional, Ruzan has found a way to balance the flavors of her homeland with produce available in her adopted home. She frequents local farms for the vegetables used in their many salads and entrees but imports all of her spices directly from Armenia.

The most popular of these, according to Ruzan, is what she calls “regular basil.” She states that this purple basil has a completely different flavor than either the green or red basils we see her in the US, and she “uses it in everything!”

In the future, the Mediterranean Grill may apply for a license for live music so that diners can be entertained with jazz or background music while they eat in the cozy twenty-seat restaurant. But as far as the menu is concerned, Ruzan doesn’t want to make any changes in the near future.

“For now, I don’t want to add anything,” says Ruzan, shyly. “People haven’t tried everything yet, and I want everybody to try this menu, what we have now.”