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Eastside Living: The Ararat experience at Hot Mama’s Espresso Bar
- Photo essay: The Ararat experience at Hot Mama’s
“The best female relationships start in public bathrooms,” Ararat owner Kelly Abshire giggled Saturday night as she stood with Hot Mama’s Espresso Bar owner Holly Skala on a makeshift stage at the Pedernales Lofts pavilion.
Ararat, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant that operated out of a humble, low-ceilinged space on North Loop for 13 years, shuttered its doors earlier this year after the owners were unable to renew their lease. After several months spent in limbo, trying to locate a new space, pay off old debts and keep the dream of Ararat alive, Abshire met Skala by chance while waiting in line for the ladies room at Cafe Mundi. As the two female business owners talked, a mutually beneficial proposition began to take shape. Abshire was looking for a kitchen to work from, and Skala was looking to expand her cafe’s food service. A partnership was born.
While Ararat continues to search for a permanent location (and investment capital to restart a full operation), Hot Mama’s will begin hosting regular Ararat events and serving a limited selection of Ararat foods daily. The kick-off event, a partnership celebration that included music, belly dance, fire dance and an extensive buffet of Ararat foods, took place last Saturday at the Pedernales Lofts pavilion directly behind Hot Mama’s on East Sixth Street. Tickets to the happening were $15, not bad, considering that dinner at Ararat was never a cheap proposition. The event was well-attended by an eclectic group of artsy and foodie types as well as die-hard Ararat fans.
Abshire sounded pleased about the event but still exhausted from the effort when I talked to her Tuesday.
“I want to offer something truly special and different for the Eastside,” she bubbled over the phone, repeating the phrase “Ararat experience” several times. But look for the next event (tentatively planned for early September) to be a smaller, more intimate dinner seating, perhaps in Hot Mama’s beautiful courtyard.
In the meantime, a limited selection of Ararat lunch items is available daily at Hot Mama’s. A companion and I dropped by for lunch Monday and sampled a couple of the offerings. We ordered an Arawrap ($4.95), which was surprisingly fresh for something that comes out of a refrigerator case. The pita bread was pleasingly soft, and the generous chunks of feta cheese offered a nice zing to the hummus and veggie wrap. We also tried the Pita Pizza, which sells for $5.50. This was a big hit. The thin pita bread was toasted to form a crispy, crackerlike crust, and the pungency of the feta cheese sprinkled on top was tempered by the slightly sour flavor of the tahini sauce. Our barista drizzled the pizza with a little extra olive oil and offered crushed red pepper to add a little spice. Good stuff.
Additional daily lunch specials include a Hummus Plate for $4.95, Tabouli for $3.75 and Sweet Cous Cous for $3.75.
Hot Mama’s, 2401 E. Sixth St., is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with extended hours to 9 p.m. and live music Thursdays. With the recent acquisition of a beer and wine license, the cafe will begin staying open later on the weekends in the near future.
- Photo essay: The Ararat experience at Hot Mama’s
Comments
By William Masek
August 24, 2007 7:44 PM | Link to this
The food looks so appetizing.
Nice site.