One of Melbourne’s young guns of Middle Eastern cooking is on the cusp of opening not just his first solo restaurant, but also a deli and sandwich bar. By winter, Tom Sarafian, whose last permanent chef gig was in 2021 at Bar Saracen, will be leading the kitchen at Zareh, a CBD restaurant that’s part of The Mulberry Group (Hazel, Lilac Wine, et al).

Named for Sarafian’s grandfather (who was also a chef), Zareh will drill down into the young chef’s Armenian heritage, with grilled meats known as khorovats a focal point of the menu. In the kitchen, a custom-made barbecue will be joined by a wood-fired oven that will scorch breads from across the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa.

Sarafian recently visited Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Armenian populations outside the country.

“Khorovats, Armenian barbecue, was a real highlight of the trip,” says the chef. “The flavours of marinated, grilled meats seasoned with garlic, chilli and onions, served with pickled vegetables, lots of fresh herbs and fruit-based sauces, wrapped with fresh lavash.”

Grilled meat is so central to Armenian social life that journalist Irina Petrosian has described khorovats as “an Armenian word for life lived to the fullest and the celebration of good weather”, a statement Sarafian wholeheartedly agrees with.

“Although I’d say in Melbourne, no need to wait for good weather to celebrate khorovats,” he adds.

When Sarafian was head chef at Bar Saracen (part owned by Rumi’s Joseph Abboud), he built a following for dishes including hummus topped with prawn and spanner crab, trout fatteh, and cheese-filled ma-amoul (sweet biscuits). Since that restaurant closed, the chef has kept busy with his eponymous retail line that includes handmade hummus, as well as running frequent events and pop-ups.

“Like most of the city, I have long been a huge fan of Tom and his food,” said Nathan Toleman of The Mulberry Group. “We’ve spent months working out the concept, finding something wholly unique that only Tom could offer.”

The deli and eatery, named Sarafian, will serve salads, Arabic breakfast and coffee, as well as sandwiches and wraps including traditional Lebanese fresh pita sandwiches, shawarma, and toasted kaak (bag-shaped rolls covered with sesame seeds), which may be filled with cheese or sujuk (spicy sausage).

A trip to Lebanon in 2022, where Sarafian fell in love with the bright, abundant breakfasts, inspired his brunch menu at the Australian Open in January and will feed into the ideas for the daytime eatery.

The deli will sell imported spices and pickles from Lebanon, and Sarafian will make cheese and cured meat, expanding his product range beyond the dips that bear his name.