Friday night we went with friends to the Armenia Restaurant (that’s really the name) on the first floor of the Armenian Cultural Center in Palermo. ***Note – as in most places in Europe, the 1st floor is what you would call the 2nd floor in the U.S., the ground floor is not counted*** This building is also home to a milonga in the basement and dance lessons to prepare for the milonga on the ground floor. I have no idea what’s above the 1st floor, but the building is a busy place.

It was as authentic as you can get in Argentina. Right down to the sign over the bar that stated (in Spanish, of course) “DO NOT LET TURKEY INTO THE EU.” We had Mediterranean mezes – hummus, tabbouleh, eggplant, roasted vegies, etc. and then meat kabobs, rice, and salad. The food was very good.

The highlight of the evening was the show. Two dancers came into the empty spot among the tables and danced for us. First two Armenian numbers and then more fast paced Greek dances. The audience participation portion came and many people went up to dance. After everyone at our table hemmed and hawed a bit I decided “why not” and joined in. It was a blast. After the twisting, turning line dance, they had us all sit around in a circle while the principal dancers and then some audience members danced around a glass of ouzo and money. It was really interesting to see some of the audience members get up there as some of them obviously knew what they were doing. The owners of the place broke a few plates, but instead of having people dance around them, they broke them off to the side and swept them up right away, which we all thought was a little odd, but made sense if you don’t want people to trip. The dance ended when someone spilled the glass of ouzo.

The smell of the ouzo brought me instantly back to sitting along the waterfront watching the sunset on Paros. It was such a strong memory trigger that I was homesick for the island and our friends Wilie and Rob (if you are reading this, drop us a note – Γειά! Τι κάνεις;)

We didn’t bring our camera, but I am hoping I can get some shots from our friend to post later.

Armenia Restaurant  – Armenia 1366