Their collaboration led to the opening of in Cambridge (2001), which became a national sensation. The restaurant’s success wasn’t just about technique—it was about ingredient integrity. The same sumac Tomassian sourced from a single village in Gaziantep, Turkey, graced Sortun’s now-famous baked Alaska with baklava crunch.
Ohannes Tomassian rarely gives interviews. He prefers the hum of a walk-in cooler to the glare of a camera. But on a chilly November afternoon, over a plate of olives and fresh flatbread, he offered a final thought: Ohannes Tomassian
When Tomassian started, za’atar was an obscure import. Today, it sits on Costco shelves. Labneh was a niche yogurt; now it’s a breakfast staple. He didn’t single-handedly create this shift, but he provided the scaffolding—the reliable, high-quality ingredients that allowed chefs and home cooks to experiment with confidence. Their collaboration led to the opening of in
In an age where culinary fame is often measured in Instagram reels, Michelin stars, and celebrity chef shout-outs, Ohannes Tomassian operates in a different register. He is not a household name, but his fingerprints are on millions of meals served daily across the United States. As the founder and driving force behind (a specialty food distribution and manufacturing company) and a key figure behind several beloved restaurant concepts, Tomassian has spent three decades quietly reshaping how Americans experience Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Armenian flavors. Ohannes Tomassian rarely gives interviews
More recently, global supply chain disruptions have tested his model. A cargo ship delay from Izmir meant no Turkish apricots for six weeks. Rather than substitute inferior fruit, Tomassian communicated openly with chefs and offered alternative recipes. “Trust is harder to rebuild than a supply line,” he says.