ARMENIANS FIGHT GLENDALE OVER GRILL CHILL

Monterey County Herald, CA
San Jose Mercury News, USA
Nov 5 2006

GLENDALE (AP) – Armenians here are skewering the city’s ban on outdoor
restaurant grilling as an offense to the kebab culture, but efforts
to overturn it have stalled in the City Council.

This city is 40 percent Armenian and Armenian-American. The 85,000
Armenian residents comprise the largest such population in the
United States.

Last year, voters elected three Armenians to the five-member City
Council, partly on an agenda to remove the outdoor grilling ban. But
they have been unable to win the four votes needed for passage.

That annoys Armenians who say indoor gas grills simply can’t do
justice to their traditional cuisine.

Vrej Sarkissian says it takes more than salt, pepper, onions and olive
oil to make a decent kabob. He cooks the skewered meat on charcoal
outside his restaurant.

"People can always tell the difference," said Sarkissian, owner of
Anoush Banquets & Catering. "They want the original flavor of home."

"It’s what our culture is about," said his brother, Sacco
Sarkissian. "It’s great, because they’re able to hold onto their
heritage. They haven’t been forced to Americanize."

The ban may have a chilling effect on the city’s dining, City
Councilman Ara Najarian argued.

"Most Armenians are highly sophisticated, and they demand the best,"
he said. "It’s developed into a gourmet war between these folks. I
once saw a place serve a flaming rack of lamb."

"I think we all know that burgers on the grill taste better than on
the frying pan," Najarian said.

Mayor Dave Weaver, who opposes lifting the ban, accused his colleagues
of playing "the race card."

"We’re portrayed as anti-Armenian, and that’s so far off the mark,"
he said. "We got a lot of complaints saying, ‘Why are you allowing
them to grill outdoors?"’

"I’m philosophically opposed to commercial grilling outside," he
said. "If we open the door, then anybody from Bob’s Big Boy to a
barbecue place can do it."

"Would you like to smell other peoples’ food all day long?"

resident Nancy Campbell asked. "We were all OK stopping smoking in
a lot of public places."

Vrej Sarkissian said he is considering moving his steel grill indoors
to comply with the law, although he estimates it will cost him about
$80,000.

"We’re going to do whatever we can to keep the flavor going," he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress