GET A BRAZILIAN!
No matter how you cut it, Tigran “Teeko” Ghukasyan knows his way around a steak.
“Meat? It’s what I do,” said Ghukasyan. Words that inspire confidence from the man slated to open up Mammoth’s first and only Brazilian Steakhouse, Harmony Brazilian Grill and Bar, where Bleu Market was previously located.
The restaurant industry, some have said, is our last, true foothold on the American Dream—a copper-fortified, Cuisinart-arsenaled meritocracy. The dishwasher begets the bus boy. The bus boy begets the line cook. The line cook begets the chef. We like this idea. It means the people in those big, white, coffee filter toques know what they’re talking about. And when it comes to our food, that’s no chopped liver.
Ghukasyan adds an even deeper dimension to the chain of command.
“I’m in the transportation business,” said Ghukasyan. “I do food deliveries.”
The first-time restaurateur is confident that having spent a career learning the ins and outs of food distribution and cost-effective food transit, the hard part is, well, done.
“I don’t think I have anything to worry about,” said Ghukasyan. “The main issue is the transportation and getting the cost-effective meat. For somebody [else] to bring that meat from Texas to California will cost him $8,000.”
Ghuykasyan, however, is doing transport in-house. He’s using his own outfit of refrigerated trailers to secure high grade cuts and produce from LA-based distributors at a fraction of the price it takes to import that food from a third party purveyor. Where it costs competitors $8,000 to import a delivery, it costs Ghukasyan $1,000 to do the same. And in a remote town like Mammoth, that’s no small feat. Cutting out the delivery man translates to prime cuts on the menu with affordable prices to match.
Speaking of menu, Ghuyasyan is making big promises: Tomahawk ribeye. Brazilian picanha and alcatra, cuts of sirloin. Linguica sausage. And for all of you less carnivorously inclined, there will be a salad bar as well as a bakery rolling out fresh pizza and the traditional pão de queijo—dough balls of cheese and potato.
The way Ghuykasyan describes it, there are two ways to run a Brazilian steak joint. The first is more or less done in the to-go style. You come in, pick what you want, and cash out. Ghuykasyan implores us to think of Subway.
The second is churrascaria rodizio.
You can think of churrascaria like eating with a traffic light.
Upon entering a traditional churrascaria—that means steakhouse for all of those in need of brushing up on their high school Portuguese—you receive a double-sided card. After helping yourself to the appetizers and salad bar, the meat parade begins. Servers, or passadores, with towering skewers of meats slice the cuts directly onto your plate.
“They char [the meat] from the top, so it doesn’t cook all the way through,” explained Ghuykasyan. “Then you choose what you want—medium well, well done. They cook it for you how you like it.”
Displaying the green side of the card signals you’re game for another round. Red indicates you’ve had your fill.
Ghuykasyan wants to offer a little bit of both serving styles to cater to the wants of the Mammoth community..
“The restaurant will be split into two halves. Seating will be at about 80 for sit-down, but we will also have the style where people can walk in, grab whatever they want, weigh it, and go.”
If that sounds unlike any dining experience in Mammoth to date, that’s because… it is. Ghuykasyan, who has been an avid rider at the mountain for some 20-odd years recognized a need in the community.
“The thing is, people after skiing? They’re hungry. My idea is when a customer sits down, the food comes right away. You know what you’re getting,” promised Ghuykasyan. “And hungry people are sensitive people. They just want water. They just want what they want.”
In the meantime, Ghuykasyan is awaiting the arrival of his head chef, en route from Brazil, and his sous from LA. There are health inspections to pass. A liquor license to obtain. A soft opening in the works for community invitees by November.
“We want the opinions of the community. I mean, we have good food, good protein, good drinks. What more could you ask for, you know?”
If all goes well, Harmony Brazilian Grill and Bar will be open to the public by December 1st. I have my card, flipped to green, at the ready.
