YEREVAN — Jirair Avanian passed away, surrounded his by family, on January 20, 2024. He was 71.
Jirair was born December 8, 1952 in Yerevan. He attended Yegishe Charents school, gaining fluency in English. With his family, he emigrated to New York City in 1970.
He developed his business skills with his mentor, Galoust Galo, managing one of the Galo Shoes Manhattan locations. He subsequently opened a successful art gallery in the East Village, seeing its potential well before the area became hip, and later another on prestigious Madison Avenue.
In 1993, Jirair decided to move back to Yerevan, pulled by the desire to help his homeland and seeing opportunity in the newly freed economy. He believed that “my presence here was much more important than in the United States.”
In 1994, in partnership with locals, he opened the city’s first supermarket, the cafe Havaboun (Hen House), then Salt Shack craft shop.
Jirair’s most monumental achievement has been the exquisite Dolmama restaurant on Pushkin Street, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary. After the Soviet era, Dolmama’s mission was to “revitalize Armenian indigenous cuisine and be creative about it”. It has gained international renown, with luminary guests such as presidents from 15 countries, not to mention celebrities ranging from Michael Caine to Kim Kardashian.
