Gapo’s bringing aromatic taste of Armenia to North Kerry diners
THE aromas of Armenia wafting out of Gapo’s Restaurant on Church Street are winning more and more customers for owners Artur and Lenne Gabrielyan - now marking their first year in the tasty Listowel business.
The couple, who met and fell in love 13 years ago while working in another Listowel restaurant with a foreign culinary twist - Casa Mia’s Italian - made the brave step to go out on their own and they haven’t looked back since.
Last week found them catering to the racing punters, and winning many new fans for the herb-infused tastes of Artur’s beloved homeland of Armenia - which comprises the better part of the Gapo’s menu.
“Leanne is from Lativa, so there’s some of her homeland on the menu too and there’s plenty of normal European dishes also so it is a good mix,” Artur told The Kerryman.
And it’s a good mix too, ingredient wise, in each of the Armenian dishes, in a taste that is threatening to become as popular as better known culinary cultures in Listowel thanks to Gapos.
Artur and Leanne find the town responding well to the taste. “We use a lot of herbs and spices in Armenian cooking and if we’re cooking meat we would always marinate it in advance before roasting it, to get all the flavour soaking in the meat.”
Artur admits to having found it difficult on the palatte when he first came to these shores 17 years ago. “For six months I was eating only pizza!”
If the Irish food took awhile to win him around, there was one town that captured his heart in an instant. “I remember passing through Listowel and just everything was buzzing, the whole town seemed so busy and full of life, this was back in 2000. I stayed a little bit but went on to live in Dublin and Cork for awhile before I decided to come back and settle down here. I liked the way it was a laid back town too.”
The rest is history - work, love, marriage, two boys and a top business. It’s a business winning more and more converts.
“I think the people of Listowel and North Kerry are really coming around to more exotic foods and getting braver in what they will try. I actually think Ryanair opening up destinations all over the place is responsible for a lot of it.”
The new open-mindedness is heartwarming for the couple. “We get more and more coming in wanting to try Armenian food and asking us ‘what do you suggest we try?’ so that’s great to see.”
Gapo incidentally was Artur’s great-grandfather. Like the placename Rae joined Healy in a famous moniker here, Gapo was married to Gabrielyan.“The whole family came to be known by it. They called us Gapos!”