BBC: Whatever happened to Peter the Armenian cook?

PanARMENIAN.Net - Just up the road from the Queen's Edinburgh residence at Holyrood Palace is a shuttered curiosity, a building that once housed a legendary eatery, known to its loyal patrons simply as "The Armenian Restaurant". Opened in 1979, the "Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile" was part exotic dining, part eccentric performance, the BBC says in a fresh article about the venue and its mysterious Armenian owner named Peter.

In the days before social media, it had a cult following and could only be found by rumor and word of mouth. Reservations were notoriously guarded by the secretive Armenian owner and cook and who served all-night banquets of traditional foods and dancing.

Then suddenly, a decade ago, Peter disappeared, leaving his customers hungry for one last meal and a clue to where he went.

But Christopher Bobyn, the author of the article, learned Peter also owned an Armenian rug shop in Edinburgh, which is now also derelict. He left a handwritten note asking Peter to call him but assumed that was where the search would end. Suddenly, one month later, a voice with a thick Armenian accent left a message on his phone.

Peter had re-emerged and agreed to give me a tour of his old restaurant.

"When I pushed open the massive wooden door, there was a small figure in an Armenian hat, graciously welcoming me inside. This was still his restaurant and I was still a guest," Bobyn wrote.

"With his hands behind his back, Peter began a tour, detailing the architecture of the building. But I wanted to know about him. Peter is deliberately vague about the details of his life. He says he is now "near 80" and first came to Scotland in the 1970s to study."

Peter confirms that the booking number could only be obtained by word of mouth and even then a reservation only made if questions were answered to his satisfaction - his meals were not for the casual diner, they were an experience to be earned.

"I'm not doing it for financial rewards, I would only do it if they (the guests) were coming here for some reason I was looking for," he says.

But mystery and exclusivity were the secret ingredients.

"People were so keen, I couldn't control the numbers," he says. "Some nights we had guests in the three figures, people would bring chairs from home for more seating."

So why close the doors on such success? Where had Peter gone?

He hadn't left Scotland and he hadn't abandoned his customers, he says.

Rather, a robbery a decade ago saw his beloved restaurant stripped of all its priceless Armenian antiques and decor. Distraught and disillusioned, Peter simply shut it down and retreated from the public eye.

But in the dark, now derelict, ruins of his old kitchen, he offers his guiding philosophy - the simple recipe to what has made his legacy into a local legend.

He says: "You should be able to bring out the things you like doing and try to help other people also join you and share it with you, if they like it."