Aline Kamakian– Restaurant Entrepreneur
Restaurant Entrepreneur, Chef and Angel to the suffering Lebanese families whose homes and jobs were destroyed by the explosion at the Port of Beirut in 2020.
“It isn’t easy to safeguard a culture in exile. Just as language, history, religion and art are all elements that help to maintain an identity, I think that food is as important for Armenians; it offers us, over and over again, the occasion to gather with family and friends, share the aromas, remember our origins and reconnect to the stories of our ancestors.”
These are the words of an extraordinary Armenian woman in Lebanon who has followed her dream and made it a reality in two kinds of business, as an insurance broker and a chef. Aline Kamakian’s father had a dream to open a restaurant in Lebanon that celebrated his Armenian culinary heritage. Unfortunately he died when she was 17 years old. She took a job with an insurance company to finance her university education and graduated with a Master’s degree in both Finance and Marketing. She began working as an insurance broker and soon opened her own brokerage firm. In 2001 Aline opened her first restaurant, Mayrig, (Little Mother) in downtown Beirut. It has become a favorite place to gather and eat for both locals and tourists.
In 2011 Aline traveled to eastern Turkey where her family escaped from to research and collect forgotten Armenian recipes for a cookbook she was preparing, Armenian Cuisine. She was accompanied on her journey by Barbara Drieskens, an urban anthropologist and visiting professor at the American University of Beirut who became her co-author. This cookbook not only contains recipes but sidebars of tips and anecdotes about the dish featured. Armenian Cuisine can be ordered online through Amazon and Good Reads.
Co-authors Aline Kamakian and Barbara Drieskens from Lebanon wrapped up a month-long, AGBU-coordinated tour across the U.S. and Canada to promote their widely acclaimed publication “Armenian Cuisine” in 2012. Link to Source
Aline is considered one of Lebanon’s leading entrepreneurs and a role model for women in business. In 2014 she was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year during the televised Brilliant Lebanese Awards. She is an active board member of the Lebanese League of Women in Business. She also works with the AGBU as a mentor to aspiring female entrepreneurs participating in the AGBU Women Entrepreneurs Program. She also volunteers to teach cooking classes to students and has been working to establish an Armenian hospitality school that will provide training in Armenian cuisine in Yerevan. She encourages aspiring chefs who hope to open a restaurant by remembering that people are the most important element in a restaurant, to care for customers and staff as if they were your own children. Her success has prompted her to franchise the Mayrig concept to Dubai,, Riyadh, Yerevan and the Maldives and she has opened another restaurant in Beirut, Batchig (Kiss). “By putting Mayrig in every country, I am planting the Armenian flag, culture, and history in that country. I am proud of being Armenian and I want the world to know, see and feel that through Mayrig”. AGBU Insider Magazine April, 2019
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic Aline joined forces with the AGBU to prepare and deliver hot meals to those who had lost their livelihoods or were too fragile to leave their homes to shop for groceries. By August 2020 the explosion at the Port of Beirut almost destroyed her world. Her restaurant sustained damage and she lost the hearing in her right ear. Two days after that she began feeding the volunteers who were cleaning up her restaurant. Others showed up so she fed them. Soon she was in partnership with Chef Jose Andres, the founder of the World Central Kitchen which is a not-for-profit NGO which provides meals in the wake of natural disasters. It was founded in 2010 after the earthquake in Haiti. Working with them gave her exposure to American television, radio and podcasts. She sustains her work through local donors which is needed since she still feeds 500 families every day.
As the situation calmed a bit Aline has been able to reflect on what she had gone through and realized that many of her fellow entrepreneur’s businesses were in jeopardy. She began to tell everyone who would listen that not only was it important to rebuild a home but also to provide a job for the head of the household to rebuild the ecosystem. Aline is a strong woman with much influence in the business community and has learned to cope by caring for others.
“I find so much hope and strength in our history. We went through the worst and here we stand, not as victims or beggars, but as great artists, leaders and courageous entrepreneurs. It teaches me to take pride in my origins yet not be arrogant, to hold on to our values and culture yet not be conservative, to move forward yet never forget where we came from.” AGBU Insider Magazine April, 2019