Armenian-Lebanese Restaurant Zareh in Melbourne Named Australia’s “Restaurant of the Year”

Less than a year after opening, the ambitious Zareh project has won one of Australia’s most prestigious culinary awards. Renowned publication Gourmet Traveller has named the restaurant its “Restaurant of the Year,” breaking with a long-standing tradition of favoring classic fine dining and European culinary traditions, The Armenian Report reports.

The restaurant opened in Melbourne in August 2025, founded by chefs and restaurateurs Tom Sarafian and Jinane Bou-Assi. Its name pays tribute to Sarafian’s family roots: the restaurant was named after his paternal grandfather, Zareh.

The menu is built around a blend of Armenian, Lebanese and Egyptian culinary traditions, paired with locally sourced Australian ingredients:

• Aish baladi: a traditional Egyptian flatbread made with flour milled locally on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
• Kafta nayyah: a dish of finely chopped raw lamb sourced from Tasmania and Victoria.
• Hummus with spanner crab: a signature take on the classic appetizer featuring delicate Australian crab meat.

For Tom Sarafian, the award came as a complete surprise, particularly because Zareh has a more relaxed format than many of the restaurant’s previous winners, including such iconic establishments as Saint Peter, Attica, Quay and Orana.

“I think it’s imposter syndrome, because we’re not fine dining in the traditional sense,” Sarafian admitted. “But maybe we’re part of a new wave that cooks just as well, but approaches the process in a much more casual and free-spirited way.”

The restaurant’s success is rooted in a deeper historical context. Its menu reflects the complex and close ties between the Armenian and Lebanese communities. In the early 20th century, Lebanon became a refuge for survivors of the Armenian Genocide and grew into one of the major centers of the Armenian diaspora in the Middle East.

According to Sarafian, Zareh is about more than simply food.

“It’s our love letter to Lebanon, which opened its arms and its country to Armenians and welcomed us so beautifully. It’s a celebration of cultures coming together.”