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Nestled in Amenia, Serevan restaurant has graced the surrounding Amenia area with it’s distinctive cuisine by Chef-Owner Serge Madikians. The restaurant opened in May of 2005, and continues to wow patrons with cuisine influenced by Serge’s native heritage in Iran, inspired by many other ethnic cuisines, and also from the bountiful offerings that the local farms of the Hudson Valley provides.
Serevan is located just minutes from the local train station, and a hop skip and a jump by car from the Inn. A historic farmhouse with a wraparound garden, it is a cozy intimate place where patrons can settle by the fire and enjoy themselves dining. As one journalist put it, “When Madikians came onto the scene, he transformed the dwelling and grounds into a lush, gastronomical oasis.” Dining there, you have the option of two different dining rooms, a lively bar, or in the warmer season, sitting on the terrace overlooking the gardens. The restaurant’s gardens also provide an abundance of fresh herbs and vegetables for the kitchen’s use, and aromatic flowers to grace tables.
Serevan collaborates with the local farming community, and makes it a tenant to stress that understanding how the natural growing process works, he visits the local farms weekly in season to provide the restaurant with fresh fruits and vegetables, and regularly personally flies to Massachusetts (he has his own pilot’s license) and scours the Cape fish dockyards for fresh fish directly from the sea.
Serge’s recipes have also been featured in The Valley Table! Check out the recipes for Pink Pearl Apple Crisp (https://www.valleytable.com/recipe/pink-pearl-apple-crisp) and Lamb Stew with Pink Pearl Apples (https://www.valleytable.com/recipe/lamb-stew-pink-pearl-apples)!
Madikian was voted best chef in 2008 and 2009 by Hudson Valley Magazine for Best Chef in the Hudson Valley (http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/Hudson-Valley-Resources/Best-of-Hudson-Valley/index.php/name/Serge-Madikians-of-Serevan/listing/15643/), and he has also been a semi-finalist for a James Beard Award twice, both in 2011 and 2012.
Come check out Serevan the next time you are visiting the Hilltop House B&B to discover a lovely meal, and please your palate with dining featuring a menu inspired by ingredients and techniques from diverse cultures and cuisines.
Serevan Restaurant
6 Autumn Lane
Amenia, NY 12501
845-373 9800
http://serevan.com
https://www.facebook.com/serevanny
https://twitter.com/serevanNY
https://www.instagram.com/serevanny/
http://serevan.com/blog/
Serevan has also been featured in many more articles, check them out at http://serevan.com/press/
*Photos used courtesy of Serevan Restaurant
My friend and I were rich in anticipation to celebrate our one-year anniversary at Serevan. We both enjoy cooking and making elaborate meals for each other, but in our celebration, we decided to eat at a restaurant to fully enjoy each other’s company and to focus on each other without having to labor. Serevan would be the first restaurant that we would attempt to dine at in upstate New York. Serevan turned out not just to be a huge disappointment, but the aggressive and volatile treatment that we experienced from the owner, Serge Madikians was appalling and nothing we have ever experienced in all of our years of dining.
We arrived at 8:00 pm and were one of two tables in the restaurant. We ordered two appetizers, beets and roasted vegetables, neither of which delighted our palettes regardless of how we mixed and matched the flavors. Salt did not help to converge the flavors. Our lovely waiter Andrew asked if everything was okay, to which we responded honestly but warmly in our festive glow, “we really wanted to like it, but we didn’t. You can take away these plates and bring out the main course as soon as it is ready. Thank you!” We were not looking to not pay for the appetizers; we just wanted our entrée so we can proceed with our lovely celebratory evening.
Madikians storms out from the kitchen and screams at the top of his lungs, “how do you plan to enjoy the entrée if you did not like the appetizers? This is a place of business! We do not do business like this. You are offensive. What do you mean you tried to like it but just didn’t?”
Shocked by his aggression and unprofessional demeanor, we attempted to explain that we just did not like the appetizers but we hoped to enjoy the entrée. But nothing would assuage his rage.
He proceeded, “These are our two most popular appetizers. You are offensive! This is my work!”
We apologized for offending him and asked if he could lower his voice so we can address each other as humans. He was consumed by his rage and raised his voice even higher and continued to say that we were in his space and that we were late for our reservations. (We called to say we were running behind.)
We shared that we came into his restaurant in a jubilant celebratory mood, eager to enjoy the ambiance, service and food from his restaurant.
My friend went to tell Andrew that we would take our entrée to go as the restaurant was not a safe place to eat and that we would take the check.
Madikians brought the packed food out and continued to scream at us, repeating all the things he said over and over again and to not “forget to tip Andrew. It’s how he makes his living.” We assured him that the food not being enjoyable to us was not Andrew’s fault, that Andrew was perfectly lovely and that we fully intended on tipping Andrew after we paid our bill. The irony was that Madikians would not give us our bill and required several promptings for him to produce and give us our bill. As we paid the bill, he continued to shout, “trust me, as a gay man, this hurts me more than it hurts you.” To which we responded, “let’s not rank feelings. This is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved. This is an awkward and unnecessary experience.”
Maybe Madikians was having a terrible night. The lack of patronage at Serevan that evening must be anxiety inducing for any restaurateur. But that does not excuse his conduct and lack of respect for the patrons who with goodwill were very much looking forward to enjoying the experience at his restaurant and who hoped to be loyal consistent patrons.