Skewers, a restaurant in downtown Spokane on West First Avenue, has rightfully gained recognition for its fresh and authentic Armenian-Lebanese cuisine. However, for owner Mirak Kazanjian, Skewers means so much more than great food.
Two flags hang in Skewers' windows: one Armenian and the other representing Artsakh, a disputed land that was historically Armenian but was taken over by Azerbaijan in 2023.
"There's Armenians that have lived here that came here as refugees almost 30 years ago. And for the first time, they are seeing Armenian flags in Spokane, and for the first time they're meeting other Armenians, and they've lived here for 30 years," Kazanjian says. "It's cool that [Skewers] has kind of become almost like a beacon, like a bat signal."
Kazanjian is a third-generation refugee. His grandparents survived the Armenian Genocide during World War I, fleeing to Lebanon, and his parents left for Los Angeles during the Lebanese civil wars.
He grew up in a large Armenian community in Los Angeles, attending an Armenian school and learning the language and culture, and then moved to Spokane for college.
Though the Inland Northwest suited him more than the big city, Kazanjian craved authentic Armenian-Lebanese food. At the time, Spokane had no eateries that could scratch the itch of homesickness.
"I didn't know how to make anything. I know what they are supposed to taste like. I really, really wanted what they are supposed to taste like," Kazanjian says. "My goal was to recreate those flavors and those dishes. Originally, it was just for me, and then I started sharing it with friends."
I realized that just making it fresh with fresh ingredients was the difference.
Kazanjian's aunt back in Los Angeles was one of his culinary influences and had the "perfect pitch" for food. Give her a bite of something, and she'd be able to recreate it. Memories of her dishes guided Kazanjian's cooking journey.
The first dish Kazanjian tried to replicate was dolma, stuffed grape leaves, to his dissatisfaction. From there, he tried to recreate numerous other childhood favorites through trial and error. Kazanjian grew to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for this culture's cuisine — learning more about the origins of each dish.
"The more friends I shared with they would be like, 'You should open a restaurant.' And it's like, 'No, I'm not going to open a restaurant.' And then, here we are," Kazanjian says.
But working at a coffee shop throughout college did solidify his interest, so he decided to try doing a food truck.
"I really enjoy cooking. I enjoy serving people, and there's a lot of those elements in it," Kazanjian says.
"Shawarma was one of my favorite foods growing up, and there was nowhere in Spokane that was making it at the time," Kazanjian says.
He wanted to do the Middle Eastern street food justice, though. Kazanjian proceeded to jerry-rig a home barbecue he bought on Craigslist for $15, turning it into a contraption that could emulate the vertical rotisserie system for the shawarma.
Falafel is also a Middle Eastern staple. Kazanjian had never been the biggest fan of the fried chickpea blend, but he was determined to make a variation of the dish that he also enjoyed.
He uses both fava beans and chickpeas, which are respectively used in Armenian and Lebanese cuisine. Fresh herbs give the inside of the fried balls their iconic green color.
"The first batch that I made I was really happy with. My recipe has changed so little even just from that because I realized that just making it fresh with fresh ingredients was the difference," Kazanjian says.
azanjian still swore up and down that he would never open a restaurant. In 2023, however, there was an opportunity too good to pass up when chef-owner Michael Wiley decided to shutter Scratch Restaurant and Rain Lounge in downtown Spokane.
As coincidence would have it, Wiley ran into Angela Schutz the same day he informed landlord Jerry Dicker about the closure. Schutz, well connected with the local restaurant industry, immediately thought of Kazanjian, whom she'd been nudging about opening a restaurant for years.
"I was like, 'I don't have any desire to open a restaurant, but it would be cool to meet Michael Wiley,'" Kazanjian says.
Though Kazanjian had his hands full with the food truck's peak season, Wiley convinced him to open in September to hit the ground running before the winter slow season. The restaurant is his main focus now, but Kazanjian still operates the food truck seasonally.
Kazanjian had mixed feelings when opening Skewers' doors. Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also known as Artsakh, renewed in 2020. The week of opening, Azerbaijan launched an "anti-terrorist" bombardment of Artsakh, displacing thousands of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to Armenia and neighboring countries.
Despite being one restaurant across the world from the current Armenian struggles, Skewers is a home away from home for many local Armenians.
"We're going to be proud, we're going to hang our flags, and we're going to represent our culture well and make sure that everyone knows who Armenians are and not let it be just another part of history that people forget," Kazanjian says.
