For thousands of years, Armenian cuisine has captivated everyone from ancient Silk Road travelers to modern culinary icons like Anthony Bourdain.
Being at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Armenia has long been exposed to a melting pot of global cuisines, enriched by the freshest local ingredients. Signature dishes include the UNESCO-listed lavash (flatbread), khorovats (barbecue), zhinyalov hats (flatbread with wild herbs), eetch (bulgur salad), manti (dumplings), and ghapama (stuffed pumpkin).
Today, Armenian fine dining restaurants have emerged across the world, delighting diners with their creativity. In Toronto, the Yacoubian brothers pay tribute to their late mother through a refined take on family-inspired recipes.
Using fresh local Ontario ingredients, the team introduces Armenian flavors in a way that feels both comforting and innovative. With such a vibrant and diverse culinary landscape, Toronto is the perfect place for their Armenian fine dining to thrive.
Below, we spoke with Chef Sebouh Yacoubian to learn more about Taline.
What was the idea and goal behind Taline?
Taline is the name of our late mother. The word always touched a very specific part of my heart. When I think of food, I always think of mom. I think of the way we grew up eating, and we indulged a lot. Our tables were always full, so it was only right that we opened up something in honor of her.
We are an Armenian restaurant with influence from Lebanon. Armenians, and Lebanese people are known for kebabs and shawarmas. Don't get me wrong, I love kebabs and shawarma, but let's change the way people think about our food. Let’s showcase the flavors, spices, and ingredients.
How does your mother inspire your cooking?
Literally every second. We have a whole mural on our stairs of just family pictures. Mom's always with us. Even though she's not here, she's here spiritually with us. We always ask ourselves, “would mom like this?”
Personal favorites on the menu?
I’m proud of the banru, which is one of our dips. It's three cheeses: feta, halloumi, and shanklish. It comes from Anjar, Lebanon, a population of only Armenians, where my mother is from. They were originally from Musa Dagh.
The lamb, every rendition of fattoush, mante, kibbeh nayeh (beef tartare). We also do a tuna or a vegan version of it, depending on the season.
Guest favorites?
Definitely the mante and the lamb. We sell way too much.
Which dish most resembles traditional Armenian cuisine?
Our khorovats, which are all of our grilled items. Our lamb chops to be more exact. The way they're seasoned, garnished, and served with the jajukh, the Armenian garlicky cucumber mint yogurt. We serve it with urts (wild thyme) on top. We grow all of our own microgreens ourselves.
Which is a clever reinterpretation of an Armenian dish?
Our fattoush salad is very reinvented. Every three months we change our menu. Right now because of the season, we do it with squash, plums, cucumber, and shallots. Our tabouleh is a kale tabouleh with plums.
Tell us more about your sustainable practices.
I want to be able to find the best from here. All our beef and lamb come from Ontario. We try to [serve] local Ontario produce.
We grow parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, all the classic stuff that you need. We grow purslane, which is rarely found in Toronto. We grow wild coriander, urts, carrot tops, dill, fennel, sorrel. The space is all indoor, a mixture of hydroponic and aeroponic.
For our jingyalov, we do a mixture of ten greens: collard greens, swiss chard, dandelions, beet tops, carrot tops, dill, leek, purslane, cilantro, and kale. We caramelize all of these down with pomegranate molasses for our trout dish.
What has been your most memorable moment?
My wife was seven months pregnant. We were looking for a house. I literally had my last $100 to my name. I decided to use that on golf. As I'm finishing hole 18, the email from Michelin came in. I yelled at the top of my lungs.
I was so down on myself, and this was a wake-up call. I called my brothers, and it was just a moment where all three of us read the email again and just went quiet because we couldn't believe that it had clicked like that.
Being a business partner with my younger brothers, I've always looked out for them. And now we created something so special in honor of our mother.
What role do your brothers have at the restaurant?
There's three of us: me the eldest, Serouj the middle, and Saro the youngest.
I'm the back of house and the visionary. Serouj is our numbers guy, an economics major. He does everything that we don't want to do: payroll, HR, accounts payable, accounts receivable. Saro is our front of house – our general manager and beverage director. We’ve given him free reign to do the entire wine and cocktail list.
Tell us more about your Armenia-inspired drinks.
The biggest thing is the wine program. Our biggest chunk is Armenian and Lebanese. Now we're at 25 Armenian reds and 17 Armenian whites. We have something for everybody.
For spirits, we infuse mulberries with vodka and then use that in a cocktail to balance out, in order for us to have the same flavors as tuti oghi in Armenia. We use Arak, which is a Lebanese spirit. We use Ararat, which is an Armenian brandy.
How about the decor and the music?
Mom was loud in voice. Mom wasn't loud in who she was. So, we wanted to keep it very minimal. The core, yet very structured. A map of Yerevan had to be in there. A map of Anjar had to be in there. The Armenian alphabet [forming] the national Mountain, Ararat. The Armenian region of Talin.
It was a no-brainer that we were only going to play Armenian music. Sayat-Nova. The non-Armenian is sitting there and bobbing their head.
How does being in Toronto shape your restaurant?
Toronto is very much like New York. Small, intimate settings, but you're on top of it at all times. We have to be more fast paced, more attentive to service, more attention to detail. We care because we're Torontonians.
Which chefs inspired you along the way?
In Toronto, I love what Steven Molnar is doing out of Quetzal. Masaki Saito came into the city five years ago with a windstorm.
Stateside, Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck, Grant Achatz, Daniel Humm. I've looked up to those guys my entire life. Gordon Ramsay, in terms of the business and how he runs an operation.
What should people know about Armenian culture?
We're such happy people.
All images courtesy of ADZ World
