Zovak “Zov” Karamardian didn’t know how to run a restaurant when she started what would become Zov’s Bistro Inc.
Her business plan was a simple blend of food and family.
“My mother was an excellent cook, and I got inspired by that,” she said.
Karamardian had been running a catering operation for 10 years before she launched Zov’s in 1987, but knew there were vast differences when it came to a restaurant.
“With catering, you’re dealing with one person and cooking for lots of people,” Zov said. “In a restaurant you’re still cooking for a lot of people and dealing with all of them.”
So how would she make her new venture work?
“If you have a passion for something, nothing stands in your way,” she said.
The “front-of-the-house” work—constant contact with all of the customers—was one of the hardest aspects of the restaurant business for her to learn.
“I wasn’t used to that,” Karamardian said. “I love people, or I wouldn’t be in this business; but it was challenging in the beginning.”
The challenge started at a 1,300-square-foot restaurant at Enderle Center in Tustin.
Zov’s Bistro Inc. has grown to 14,000 square feet there and has other restaurants in Newport Coast, Irvine, Anaheim and John Wayne Airport.
The company is planning a fifth site in South Orange County next summer, said Chief Executive Armen Karamardian, Zov’s son.
Her daughter, Taleene Karamardian, also works for the company.
“Armen’s our businessman,” Zov said. “Taleene is the creative side—everything that’s supposed to look perfect.”
They are two of about 220 company employees—up from three when she opened her doors.
Husband Garbis “Gary” Karamardian is a retired engineer.
‘Mesmerized’
Zov was born in Israel, and her family moved to San Francisco when she was 13.
“Dad bought a grocery store in North Beach,” she said.
She “was mesmerized” by Julia Child—one of the first celebrity chefs in the U.S.—and Zov began to cook.
“I tried to make everything she made,” she said. “I was infatuated with her cooking, her style—I owe my career to her.”
The two met after Zov opened the first restaurant. Child cooked at a fundraising event at the bistro, and she encouraged Zov to publish her cookbooks, which she has done.
Zov and Gary met at an Armenian youth conference, and they moved to his home of Orange County after they married in 1966.
She opened A-Z Gourmet Catering while raising their children in the late 1970s.
“I enjoyed cooking for large crowds, and I knew food would be my career.”
Zov said she cooked anything—even cuisine she’d never learned about, such as Chinese food.
“Cooking is very basic,” she said. “It’s just combining ingredients.”
Touching Lives
Operating a restaurant is much more.
Zov’s took a small space previously occupied by a high-end chocolate and ice cream store called Blum’s Ice Cream, initially planning to open only for breakfast and lunch.
“I wanted to have a place for people to come in, have some coffee, hang out—maybe have some pastry or sandwiches,” she said. “That never happened. People loved the food, and they wanted to stay and eat.”
Now they also come to the Tustin restaurant one Saturday a month for cooking classes that cost $75 a person and regularly draw 30 to 40 attendees.
A recent event delved into salads. Future sessions are planned on salmon, “spreads and drizzles,” and other topics.
“We talk, we have fun, we cook, we eat,” she said.
This kind of camaraderie is the key to the entire experience at each restaurant, Zov said.
“It’s fun and interactive. They feel connected, meet people—become friends.”
Zov said each location can handle special events, and the Tustin site has two rooms for private events. Each also offers delivery, and the company is expanding its corporate meetings and catering efforts.
“It’s amazing how many lives we’ve touched.”
