To Lviv's Spellbinding Armenian Cathedral
plus a café dedicated to Sergei Parajanov and a recipe for stuffed flatbreads
Three months before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I went to Lviv. I wrote about what I found there in my book, Cold Kitchen, briefly mentioning the Armenian Cathedral, and specifically the captivating murals within.
What I didn’t talk about is the adjoining Armenian restaurant, named after the filmmaker maestro of the Caucasus, Sergei Parajanov.
While I’d always regretted that omission slightly, this Journeys Beyond Borders newsletter offers me the chance to write it up for you here, with some accompanying photographs of both the cathedral itself and the café (officially called ‘Para Janov and Port Wine’).
The café opened five years ago which means not only has it had to weather the global pandemic but also the full-scale war.
When I went in for lunch, on a cold but sunny November day, I was thrilled to find that the café specialises in Armenian stuffed flatbreads called jingalov hats which I am a die-hard fan of.
Typically, these are stuffed with greens and herbs such as dill, coriander, spinach, sorrel and spring onions but at Lviv’s Parajanov café—where they are sold by the enticing words “this is what you came here for”—there are appealing and slightly wild variations on offer from turkey to air-dried beef and mozzarella.
The one I ate was more traditional with greens but included walnuts and sweet pomegranate molasses which is not so typical in Armenia. There is a recipe at the end if you’d like to make your own.
But first to Lviv’s Armenian cathedral, the first stones of which were laid in the 14th century…