Author: Chavushian

APA, Azerbaijan
March 6 2010

U.S. Embassy spokesman Terry Davidson: We certainly would not want
this discussion within the U.S. Congress to impact our relations with
Azerbaijan

[ 06 Mar 2010 15:42 ]

Baku. Lachin Sultanova ` APA. `We certainly would not want this
discussion within the U.S. Congress to impact our relations with
Azerbaijan.

We are strategic partners, and there is much we are doing together
that benefits both nations,’ in response to APA’s questions about the
U.S. position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee vote, spokesman
for U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Terry Davidson said.
`We are aware of Azerbaijan’s concern about the debate over this
resolution in the U.S. Congress, and both President Obama and
Secretary Clinton have made clear their desire that the U.S. Congress
not be forum for debates about what happened in 1915. As they have
stated, we believe the people of Turkey and Armenia ` their societies,
their historians ` are the ones who should review this history and put
it into perspective. To that end, the United States has supported
efforts to bring about rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, an
opening that would include the creation of an ongoing dialogue about
the tragic events of 1915. Secretary Clinton said last week that she
hopes the full Congress will not take further action on this
resolution, as we believe it to be unhelpful in the normalization of
relations between Turkey and Armenia. That normalization would help
bring long-term stability, peace and progress to the region,’ Terry
Davidson said.

news.am, Armenia
March 6 2010

RA NA Speaker sent letter of gratitude to Nancy Pelosi

15:58 / 03/06/2010RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan sent a letter of
gratitude to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy
Pelosi.

`Armenia was closely and excitedly following the discussion on
Armenian Genocide resolution in U.S. House Committee on Foreign
Affairs. We are satisfied with vote results. The March 4 voting was
not only tribute to Armenian people, but a just response to the crime
against humanity committed in the beginning of last century,’ the
letter says.

On behalf of National Assembly and himself Abrahamyan expressed
gratitude to Nancy Pelosi and all congressmen for the assistance in
resolution adoption by the Committee. `This is the beginning of a
lasting process. I hope not far off is the day when the House of
Representatives will pass the resolution. It is worth mentioning that
rectification of historical injustice will not impede Armenia-Turkey
relations’ normalization, on the contrary ` it will become a major
step towards both nations’ reconciliation,’ the letter reads.

S.T.

Interfax, Russia
March 2 2010

Baku resents Karabakh settlement – Armenian foreign minister

YEREVAN March 2

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has claimed Baku resents
Karabakh settlement.

"If a party in the conflict does not want to fulfill the European
Union’s proposal for pulling out snipers from the frontline, it
resents settlement," Nalbandian said at a joint news conference with
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Yerevan on Tuesday.

"The EU made a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2008 with the
participation of 56 foreign ministers, urging the conflicting parties
to strengthen the ceasefire regime and pull out snipers from the
frontline.

But the problem remains on paper to this day. Why did Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh agree, and Azerbaijan didn’t? Azerbaijan keeps making
bellicose statements almost each day," he said.

Nalbandian confirmed that Armenia had made its proposals to update the
Madrid principles of settling the conflict.

"It is a working process in which the sides are making their
proposals. It will continue until the sides draw their positions near
and settle disagreements," he said.

Vice Foreign Minister of Russia and Turkey discuss Karabakh conflict

06.03.2010 14:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the framework of Russo-Turkish ministerial
consultations first deputy foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey
Alexei Denisov and Feridun Sinirlioglu met on March 5 in Moscow.

During the consultations, the sides exchanged views over various
international and regional issues including the situation in the
Caucasus, Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the situation in Iraq and the
Middle East, issues related to the Iranian nuclear program, press
service of RA Foreign Ministry reported.

Ankara is outraged

amik-tan
12:50 pm | March 05, 2010 | Politics

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Washington Thursday evening after a
congressional panel approved the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.
252). Turkey’s mass media are full of statements condemned the
decision of U.S. congressmen.

"I consider the decision unreasonable. It lacks respect to the Turkish
nation. The adopted resolution is far from the historical realities
and is incompatible with Armenia-Turkey relations. The decision will
significantly damage the stability and peace in Caucasus, as well as
the nations’ efforts to establish long-term good-neighborly relations.
I see this decision, following the political configuration, as
injustice to history. After this voting, Turkey does not claim
responsibility for negative results in any sphere," Turkish President
Abdullah Gul said following the decision of the U.S. congressional
panel to recognize the Resolution.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÃ?Â?an voiced serious concern over the
Resolution adoption and the government said the Resolution would harm
Turkish-American relations and prevent Armenian-Turkish peace deal.

"We condemn this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," reads a statement of Turkey’s Government.

Note that Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington, Namik Tan,
Thursday evening after the Committee approved of the resolution. Namik
Tan promised to inform about his further steps after consulting with
his government.

March 4, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted Armenian
Genocide resolution (H.Res.252) with a vote of 23 to 22. After it was
put to the vote in Profile Committee, the Resolution will be submitted
to the House of Representatives for final vote.

National Public Radio NPR,
March 5 2010

The Tricky Business Of Defining Genocide
by Alan Greenblatt

Photo: Kevin Frayer/APArmenian children in Jerusalem carry signs and
photographs during a 2005 march to mark the 90th anniversary of the
mass killing of Armenian people in 1915. Armenians accuse the Turks of
genocide in the slaughter during World War I.

Kevin Frayer/APArmenian children in Jerusalem carry signs and
photographs during a 2005 march to mark the 90th anniversary of the
mass killing of Armenian people in 1915. Armenians accuse the Turks of
genocide in the slaughter during World War I.
text sizeAAAMarch 5, 2010 The term "genocide" was coined during World
War II to denote a crime so terrible it could not be confused with any
other. In that sense, the word may have worked too well.

The word’s association with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust has
presented a barrier to defining mass killings as genocide. And the
lack of agreement on what constitutes genocide has led to inaction in
the face of contemporary slaughters, as well as endless arguments
about whether historical events qualify for the description.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday approved a resolution
recognizing the slaughter of more than 1 million Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 as genocide.

Congress ‘ along with parliaments in other nations ‘ has regularly
debated this issue in recent years, creating tensions with Turkey.
Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday that the House panel’s vote
would damage U.S.-Turkish ties.

Obama’s Broken Pledge

But the Armenian debate is not the only argument over what exactly
constitutes genocide. What seems to be the most straightforward
political act imaginable ‘ condemning mass slaughter ‘ turns out to be
a tricky business.

Fear of upsetting Turkey, an important NATO ally, has led President
Obama to lobby against the genocide resolution. This stands in
contrast to his position as a senator and presidential candidate, when
he pledged to recognize the genocide. He said it was simply "a
historical fact."

The reality is that the term is a great hindrance, because fixating on
the term hinders our understanding both of what happens and what
should happen.

– Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
In some contemporary cases, such as the 1994 mass murders in Rwanda,
debate among rich nations has seemed to turn more on the semantic
question of whether events technically qualify as "genocide," rather
than on formulating any response.

Calling such killings genocide would force action. Member states can
call on the United Nations to try to prevent genocide and are bound by
treaty to stop genocide from taking place within their own borders.

"There’s a legal structure out there that makes the word very
powerful," says Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of a 2009 book about
genocide, Worse Than War. "That’s why there’s so much debate about
whether something is genocide or isn’t."

Defining just what is genocide has been a point of contention ever
since the word was invented. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who evaded
capture by the Germans during World War II and eventually settled in
the United States, created the word in a 1944 book in response to the
Holocaust. He combined the Greek word genos, meaning race or tribe,
with the suffix -cide, derived from the Latin word for killing.

This was more than a linguistic exercise. His neologism quickly made
its way into international law with the 1948 adoption of the United
Nations Convention on Genocide, which defines genocide as the attempt
to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic racial or
religious group.

An Enormous Loophole

To Lemkin’s dismay, however, political compromises meant that the
document did not define mass murder for political reasons as genocide.
That has turned out to be an enormous loophole. In Indonesia, for
example, an anti-Communist purge in 1965-66 left an estimated 500,000
people dead. Yet, because of their political nature, the massacres
have not been considered genocide.

Perpetrator regimes typically argue that their intent is based on
self-defense or military necessity. Perhaps surprisingly, outside
nations, too, willingly enter into legalistic arguments about whether
mass slaughters such as Rwanda and Darfur constitute genocide.

"The reality is that the term is a great hindrance, because fixating
on the term hinders our understanding both of what happens and what
should happen," Goldhagen says.

It can be an argument without end.

Charles W. Ingrao, an historian at Purdue University, notes that
former combatants can sometimes agree on the facts ‘ including mass
murder and rape ‘ but the aggressor will still not accept the
opprobrium of the genocide label.

"The use of the term genocide throws a monkey wrench into what could
be the smoothly working machinery of reconciliation," he says. "It has
a political dimension that makes it counterproductive."

The Armenia Question

Armenians insist the 1915 killings constituted the first genocide of
the 20th century. Most scholars agree. Denying it is as unimaginable,
in their eyes, as a German denial of the Holocaust.

Armenians outside of Armenia seem to take a harder line on the
question of the term genocide than those still living in the country.

"This denial of the genocide has become the central organizing
principle among Armenians in the diaspora," says Ronald Grigor Suny, a
professor of Armenian and Russian history at the University of
Michigan.

Turkey has lobbied hard against foreign countries recognizing the 1915
killings as genocide.

Following Thursday’s House committee vote, Turkey recalled its
ambassador to the United States and has threatened to deny the U.S.
use of an airbase, as well as other sanctions, during previous debates
over the past decade.

Turkey has always maintained that the Armenians were not targeted for
extermination and that ethnic massacres happened on both sides during
World War I. Turks also say their Ottoman predecessors feared that
Armenians in their midst would support invading Russians.

But feelings run deep among Armenians. Protesters of Armenian dissent
showed up by the thousands in France, Lebanon and the U.S. last year
as Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan essentially campaigned for
diaspora support of a rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey. He was
trying, unsuccessfully, to get diaspora leaders to back an accord with
Turkey that established diplomatic relations and reopened the borders
‘ but also called for a joint historical commission to examine the
genocide question.

"The government of Armenia is not going to push this issue as much as
they might have," Suny says. "They want to make some realistic
state-to-state agreements with the Turks."

tory.php?storyId=124358412

RESOLUTION MAYBE "HALF-RATIFIED"

gsrc/politics-lrahos17027.html
13:50:27 – 03/03/2010

The discussion of the resolution on the genocide in the U.S. Congress
cannot be aimed at defending the interests of the Armenians, says the
NA member, member of the SDHP Vardan Khachatryan. Discussion of this
question affects the interests of the United States. The point is
the reduction of the role of Turkey after the collapse of the Soviet
Union. He also recalled the Kurdish issue, as well as information
indicating the existence of oil reserves in areas where there was
the genocide.

AZERBAIJANIS, ARMENIANS CAN FIND COMMON LANGUAGE

news.az
March 4 2010
Azerbaijan

Elchin Shikhlinski News.Az interviews Elchin Shikhlinski, chairman
of the Journalists’ Union of Azerbaijan and editor-in-chief of the
Zerkalo newspaper.

What are the differences and similarities between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani mass media?

There are more similarities than differences between the mass media
of Azerbaijan and Armenia. I think this is because our people lived
within a single state called the USSR for more than 70 years. This
impacts the work of journalists – both Azerbaijan and Armenia as well
as a number of other former USSR countries have common problems in
acquiring information, expressing liberal ideas and freedom of speech.

The difference between our journalists and Armenian journalists lies
in views on the reasons, implications and ways of a just resolution
of the Karabakh conflict and the assessment of the 1915 events in
Ottoman Turkey. No other special differences can be seen between
Azerbaijani and Armenian journalists.

Does this mean that the Azerbaijani and Armenian people are close in
terms of lifestyle, traditions, culture and so on?

The similarity of Azerbaijani and Armenian journalism at present is
most likely caused not by closeness in outlook, traditions, culture
and so on but by the fact that we share the same profession. However,
there certainly are plenty of similarities between Azerbaijanis
and Armenians.

Does this explain why when they are outside Azerbaijan and Armenia,
our people make friends and families and set up businesses together?

I would like to remember an episode from my own life during
service in the Soviet Army in the German Democratic Republic. In
the military unit in this now defunct state, all the Caucasians,
primarily Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians, called each other
compatriots, were close, shared whatever they had and even fought
together against representatives of other ethnic groups living in the
former USSR. I think this is because both our people live in the same
region, are close in temperament, traditions and views of life. All
these similarities and not differences between our countries lead to
friendship between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in third countries.

And finally, is there hope that our peoples will be able get over
their losses during the Karabakh conflict and live in peace and
neighbourliness?

I think there is hope. Moreover, if the representatives of different
superpowers that pursue their mercantile and pragmatic goals stop
interfering in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, our people
will find a common language quickly and settle all the problems
between them, which will ensure their peaceful coexistence.

Akper Hasanov News.Az

Turkish scholars excel with charter schools that emphasize science, math

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, March 2, 2010
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

A decade ago, a group of Texas university professors and graduate students
from Turkey who thought American students were lagging behind in math and
science decided to start their own charter school.

The professors had noticed how the college students they taught lacked
understanding of the fundamental concepts in the subjects. They also knew
there was a shortage of qualified teachers in those disciplines.

"We wanted to create a program to fill that gap," said Soner Tarim, now
the superintendent of the Harmony School System. "Why are we falling
behind other nations?"

Today there is a Harmony Science Academy in most large Texas cities. The
schools enrolled about 7,520 students at 19 campuses in grades K-12 last
year. This year the system expanded grades and opened six new schools,
boosting enrollment to 12,000.

Individual schools have relatively low enrollments; the largest school had
about 700 students last year. But the system’s total enrollment surpasses
that of many Texas school districts.

Tarim was studying for his doctorate in aquatic ecology at Texas A&M
University when he became one of the school’s original founders. Other
founders included math and science educators from the University of Texas,
Rice University and the University of Houston.

Many of those scholars came from outside the country to attend graduate
school in the U.S. The charter school system has also hired many foreign
teachers with specialties in those fields to make up for the teacher
shortage.

The school’s goals are lofty. One brochure says that its mission is to
lead students to be "responsible citizens and even Nobel laureates."

Last year, 17 campuses were rated exemplary or recognized, or roughly 90
percent of the schools. The system is run by the Houston-based nonprofit
Cosmos Foundation. Cosmos opened its first school in Houston in 2000,
followed by one in Dallas four years later.

School plans

There are also campuses in Grand Prairie and Fort Worth. Leaders are also
planning to open a K-12 school called the Harmony School of Nature in
southwest Dallas near Mountain Creek Park and Interstate 20 that will
include hands-on outdoor classes.

"It starts with the school culture," said Fatih Ay, superintendent of
Dallas-area schools. "It’s a high-expectation culture."

Many of the students come from low-income families, and the schools have a
high level of ethnic and racial diversity.

On a recent morning at the Grand Prairie Harmony Science Academy, a group
of sixth-graders attempted to get a robot over a wall in preparation for a
First Lego League competition.

"It’s pretty cool because you can create different things," said Luis
Brito, 11. "This might come in handy in life if you want to become an
engineer."

"You get to use your imagination," said Jakob Nelms, 12. "Let it run
wild."

The campus was rated exemplary in 2009. About 53 percent of children
enrolled were from economically disadvantaged families, and 76 percent
were Hispanic or black.

Foreign teachers

Charter schools are public schools approved by the state but are subject
to fewer state laws than school districts. They are intended to offer
school choice and promote innovative instructional approaches.

Many charter schools in Texas have struggled academically under the state
accountability system, so the Harmony schools stand out for their ratings.

The Harmony schools receive the bulk of funding from the state, based on
average daily attendance like other public schools. Harmony also raises
money through bond sales. The system also received a Texas High School
Project grant, funded by organizations including the Gates Foundation and
Dell Foundation.

Because of the shortage of qualified math and science teachers in Texas,
Harmony has hired a large number of teachers from foreign countries on
H-1B work visas, including many from Turkey. Most of the Harmony teachers
are beginning teachers with under five years of experience.

About 20 percent of the system’s teachers are international. Tarim said
that the school always tries to find qualified American teachers first.

"I think just like any other company we have to look for outside
resources," Tarim said.

The TEA has received a handful of complaints related to the Cosmos schools
over the years, including concerns that all administrators are male and
Turkish, that Turkish teachers were displacing American teachers and that
the immigrant teachers were difficult to understand.

Tarim said those complaints were groundless and the system has female
administrators. He said he tries to appoint administrators with math and
science backgrounds.

Charter schools set up by Turkish scholars have also opened in other parts
of the country, including Arizona, New Jersey and Utah. Tarim said Harmony
was not affiliated with schools in those states but administrators at the
Texas Harmony schools are helping new schools in Oklahoma, Louisiana and
Missouri replicate their model.

Academic push

The schools push students to enter academic competitions in robotics and
math. Science fair participation is mandatory. Fourth- and fifth-grade
students learn from instructors trained in math or science in addition to
their classroom teacher. A pre-engineering curriculum is offered at the
high school level. Electives include genetics, logic and environmental
science.

The Cosmos Foundation also set up an international science fair
competition.

In addition, Harmony received a grant from the federal government to teach
Turkish, because it is considered a high-need language.

The schools also promote trips to Turkey for students and parents.
Students are also encouraged to participate in Turkish Olympiad
competitions.

Melissa Bohannon teaches kindergarten at the Harmony Academy in Fort Worth
and her three children attend the school. They participate in Science
Olympiad competition and take Turkish folk dancing classes.

"It’s small, it’s personable and it’s like a family," she said. "My kids
have benefited from the cultural diversity. People are from everywhere
here."

The school also has developed a number of policies and programs that
differ from other public schools. All students’ families receive home
visits and there are weekend tutorials.

The school developed an academic tracking system and Web site for parents
to check their children’s grades in class, performance on benchmark tests
and discipline problems. Discipline is based on the number of points
students receive for each behavior problem.

Most of the students transfer from surrounding public school districts.
Aleasia Holmes moved her daughter, who is in the ninth grade, from
Duncanville schools after she started having behavior problems.

"My daughter was in trouble every day," she said. "It’s like a 360-degree
change."

s/localnews/stories/DN-harmony_02met.ART.State.Edi tion1.4bb08db.html

PETROSSIAN PARIS — CAVIAR AND EXTRAORDINARY FOOD

Huffington Post
ossian-paris—-cavia_b_479078.html
March 2 2010

Comments I have been visiting Paris for more than 50 years, and I can’t
recall an occasion when I didn’t stop in at the Petrossian Caviar
shop at 144 rue de l’Université for a dollop (or two) of Iranian
beluga caviar, usually with blinis and a shot (or two) of Russian
vodka. But on my last trip there, it was so prohibitively expensive
that I had to forego the pleasure. I knew that the Petrossian family
had opened a retail shop here just across from my friends Silvio and
Eddy’s Il Piccolino restaurant, but the shop was so unimpressive that
I never returned.

Imagine my pleasure when I heard that they had revamped it and, in
addition, opened a casual dining room/café. Petrossian Paris Boutique
and Café (321 N. Robertson Blvd., at Rosewood, West Hollywood (310)
271-0576) is now serving extraordinary food from 10 am to 11 pm Monday
through Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday.

But let me digress…two Armenian brothers, Melkoum and Mouchegh
Petrossian, along with the latter’s wife, émigrés from Russia, had
opened their Paris shop in the early 1920’s to introduce the pleasures
of caviar to a willing world. Her family was one of five behind
the fame of the budding caviar industry in imperial Russia at the
beginning of the 19th century. Today their descendents, led by father
Armen (he of the ever-present bowtie and swashbuckling moustache),
and sons Alexander and Robert, have also opened boutiques in Monaco,
New York and Las Vegas…with the revamped LA being the latest.

On my first visit there last month, I was snacking in the café with
friends when I spotted Leba Sedaka walking by the retail boutique
and beckoned her in; she told me she and Neil were flying to New
York in the morning and she needed an elegant gift for the owner of
the private plane. I pointed out a nice-sized tin of domestic caviar
which would last them to the East coast, and for less than $500 she
had solved her gift problem.

The patriarch of the family told me: "For nearly 80 years, we have been
recognized as the foremost purveyor of fine caviar from all over the
world. Today, with supplies of Iranian and Russian caviar difficult
to impossible to obtain, we have scoured the world and often initiated
the production of fine caviar from a variety of farmed and sustainable
sources. Kazakhstan, China, Israel, the U.S., but also from France,
Germany, Bulgaria. I know that caviar has a solid place in today’s
unpredictable consumer market. Over 85% of the caviar now sold in
the United State is California-raised in eco-friendly ways," he told
me. "Now it is a small indulgence that no longer requires splurging,
since American caviar is delicious, eminently affordable and a way to
support the California economy." Amen. In these days of uncertainty,
we all need small moments of pure pleasure…and what can bring one
more satisfaction than a taste of good caviar?

A word about the new retail space and the café: LA designer David
Davis drew on a palette of grey cerulean blue, a color used from
the time of Louis V and Madame Pompadour for the exterior, matching
the Petrossian shops in Europe and Manhattan. I like the vivid red
lettering he used on the facade of the marquee. I noted that he used
deep blue Galucha, a synthetic sting ray skin with pebbled surface
reminiscent of caviar pearls. The dining room is elegantly casual,
featuring tasteful artwork from the nearby Findlay Gallery. Tables are
set far apart and soft jazz permeates the background. Floor-to-ceiling
windows overlook the Robertson scene; in fact, the extraordinary
15-foot ceilings are accented by exposed turn-of-the century Paris
steel trusses. There is outdoor seating on the street side of the
boutique shielded by rose plants.

After several stunning meals here, I have concluded that the smartest
thing the Petrossian family has done is to enlist the services of one
of the finest young chefs in the world to cook at the café. I don’t
make that statement lightly either. Executive Chef Benjamin Bailly at
28 has more experience and talent than most celebrated chefs twice
his age. He has just been nominated as one of the Best New Chefs of
the Year by the James Beard Awards. When I dined with Joel Robuchon
at MGM’s L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon 3 years ago, Ben was sous chef
in that three star kitchen, having assisted the genius French chef
in opening six namesake restaurants around the world. But still,
who would dream that in a sparkling little café on Robertson I
would experience some of the great meals of my life? My first dinner
was a last-minute drop-in with film director Fred Levinson. I told
General Manager Christopher Klapp that we wanted to start with a caviar
service…but my tight budget would only permit about a hundred dollars
for the treat. He smiled and said it was a given: with the assistance
of our lovely wait person, Julia, a theatre student at USC, he quickly
returned with an iced bowl containing a small tin of Alverta ($101),
caviar from a Northern California white sturgeon.

Served with a half-dozen each of fluffy blinis, sour cream and chopped
egg, the caviar was nutty, smooth and robust, small dark beads. I asked
why no red onion and Chris indicated that Armen Petrossian felt that
the onion was only used to mask inferior quality eggs. Other caviars
are available at varying prices: Ossetra, with its medium-sized
greenish-gray beads; Sevruga, from wild sturgeons of the Caspian
Sea, strong taste and grey beads; and the Imperial Special Reserve
known as "Persicus," dark and robust, bursting with flavor, rather
expensive. Chef sent out two small glasses of palate-refreshing soup,
a cold Borscht and a Cantaloupe Gaspacho. Other choices are a White
Asparagus Velouté and Wild Mushroom Cappuccino; all $6 a cup and $9
a bowl. The mushroom is strongly sensational.

Salads are either $14 or $16, and the most popular is the Petrossian
Salad, haricots vertes, foie gras terrine, black truffle dressing. A
dish of softly scrambled eggs in the French style is $16 with trout
roe, but I went for the eggs with white sturgeon caviar for $26,
worth every penny. There are five or six sandwiches for lunch, not
yet sampled, although I am aiming for a classic Croque Madame ($12),
French ham, gruyere, sauce Mornay, sunnyside up egg. Petrossian smoked
salmon is legendary, so a sandwich featuring it is perfection.

With all that out of the way, let me get to the good stuff, and why
I said in front that these recent meals here have been among the best
of a long life. Napoléon Tartare ($24), an ethereal dish which left
us all speechless. I salivate as I write about it…think hand-sliced
steak tartare made from beef that the chef personally collects at a
Niman Ranch waystation. Gently seasoned and formed into a rectangle,
then layered in the center with a spread of caviar! Served with a
pinch of baby greens seasoned with black truffle oil and a few shards
of crisp toast. I said with a twinkle in my eye to friends that I
doubt if anywhere else in the world tonight is someone eating this
same dish. At that moment, our Petrossian Jell-O ($12) arrived. A
glass of jello, (not the rubbery kind my mother made), filled with
shards of baby scallop ceviche, yuzu dressing, and apple mousse.

Again, a dish not rivaled anywhere I know. New to the menu and a
particular favorite of the brilliant young chef is his Black Truffle
Mac & Cheese ($16), orrechiette pasta, prosciutto, truffles and
parmesan. In the annals of mac ‘n cheese history, this dish will go
on the top of the list.

Here are still several dishes to be tried at the top of the "Signature’
menu: think Carnaroli Risotto ($22), the ‘EggXiting’ ($24), a petit
caviar egg with classic accoutrements, and of course their signature
Smoked Salmon ($18). But now we are coming to the heart of the chef’s
stunning menu, five dishes which will have you walking away in stunned
silence, then lying in bed that night and trying to recall the elusive
flavor and details. I deliberately am not referring to the Sturgeon
Confit ($26), since I didn’t have a desire to sample that. But yes,
oh yes, the Scallops ‘a la Plancha’ ($20), four perfectly-seared bay
scallops served atop a carrot puree, with orange foam and a balsamic
reduction drizzled along the sides. In the mood for steak? Think of
this Entrecote a l’echalote ($28), a prime rib eye steak served with
shallot confit, baby spinach, and wild mushroom fricassee. Not only
is this an exquisite rendering of a classic dish, but at this price
it is a half to a third of what something not as good would cost in
any other restaurant (except perhaps a Robuchon Atelier). My passion
for short ribs is well known, but never fully realized…. until
now. Braised Prime Short Ribs ($26), served with sunchokes mash and a
zesty sauce Bourguignon. I wanted to bottle and take home. And then
a dish I am suggesting for my picky ex, who likes her chicken well
done. His Crispy Chicken ($14), served with a Hearts of Palms salad
and a sweet and sour dressing which works. All desserts are $8 and you
will be remiss if you don’t go for the Panna Cotta, White Peach Espuma
(add the $6 for the caviar topping). I prefer the Sicilian Pistachio
Crème Brulee while some friends preferred the Lemon Parfait with
Almond Chantilly. Chocolate fans will adore the Chocolate Ganache
with caramel emulsion.

I find it hard to contain my enthusiasm for such extraordinary food
in a casually elegant setting at prices which will question your
sanity, or rather that of the Petrossian family for keeping them
so reasonable. But I fully expect that the word will quickly spread
about this brilliant young chef and his extraordinary dishes waiting
for unknowing diners on Robertson. I suggest you go before you can’t
get in!