Vermont’s First Afghan Restaurant, Bamyan Kebab House, Opens in Winooski

Brothers Awran and Wazirgul Hashimi opened Bamyan Kebab Home final Thursday at 65 Winooski Falls Manner within the area vacated by Shafer’s Market & Deli. The Hashimis consider that their new enterprise, which is called after their native province and its capital metropolis in Afghanistan, is the primary Afghan restaurant in Vermont.

The identify of the area and the restaurant additionally means “shining mild,” Awran mentioned.

Bamyan Kebab Home can be open on daily basis however Monday for lunch and dinner, serving a variety of dishes equivalent to seasoned, grilled meats over spiced rice; steamed, crammed dumplings referred to as mantu; and a flaky, fried pastry full of scallions and greens referred to as bolani.

“Mantu is among the most well-known of Afghan dishes,” Awran mentioned. “It’s the very first thing individuals cook dinner if you’re a visitor.”

All meats are halal, and no alcohol is served. The Hashimis have ordered particular ovens by which to cook dinner kebabs.

Awran, 29, lives in Winooski. He got here to Poultney from Afghanistan in 2011 on a U.S. government-sponsored scholar change program and stayed to attend the now-closed Inexperienced Mountain Faculty. He then earn a grasp’s diploma in human sources and strategic administration from the College of Denver. Whereas finding out in Vermont, he organized for his youthful brother to hitch him within the U.S. on a scholar visa.

“I did not have any concept to open a restaurant,” Awran mentioned, “however since Vermont accepted so many Afghan refugees, we determined to open this area as a social area for them to get linked, to really feel nearer to house, in addition to to introduce Afghan tradition to Vermonters.”

Chef Bibi Nakhod will lead the kitchen with the assistance of assistant chef Wardak Karimi. Each are among the many Afghan refugees newly resettled within the U.S. after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the nation.

Nakhod was a chef in Afghanistan, Awran mentioned. Her husband labored for the U.S. authorities and was killed throughout the warfare. Karimi was a soldier within the U.S.-trained navy.

Awran recalled how completely different and overseas Vermont felt when he first arrived from Afghanistan. Eleven years later, he mentioned he’s excited to welcome extra fellow Afghans and hopes that his household’s restaurant will assist the newcomers settle in.

“It is actually onerous to go away house,” Awran mentioned. “It does not matter how undeveloped it’s, how onerous it’s [to live there]. It is nonetheless house.”