Our Story
A family, a table,
and a place we now call home
We are an Armenian family. We came from Syria, we came to Canada, and here, in the Fraser Valley, we found home.
Salma's Kitchen is run by an Armenian family from Syria, now cooking in Abbotsford, BC. The kitchen is named after Salma, the mother of the family. We buy what we can from Fraser Valley farms and cook the food we grew up on: grilled mains, salads and dips made from scratch.
- Who we areAn Armenian family, originally from Syria.
- Named afterSalma, the mother of the family.
- Where we cookAbbotsford, BC, in the Fraser Valley.
- What we cookArmenian food with a Middle Eastern infusion: grilled mains, salads and dips made from scratch.
- How we cookFrom scratch and to order, and portioned the way we portion at home.
- Where we buyAbbotsford and Fraser Valley farms wherever we can.
- How to reach usBy phone: (819) 743-5953.
Our roots are Armenian and our story runs through Syria, where feeding people was never a chore. It was who we were. When we came to Canada, we arrived with very little that would fit in a suitcase, but we brought the thing that mattered most: the belief that a full table is how you show love.
Canada welcomed us, and we found a home here. Now we want to give something back to the community that took us in. For our family, hosting people isn't a nicety. It's part of our culture, woven into everything.
Where did Salma’s Kitchen begin?
Around a Sunday table, years before there was a kitchen. Growing up, Sunday had one shape. After church, we'd gather, and we didn't just gather, we hosted. We would invite all of our relatives to our place, and lay out a lunch big enough for everyone who walked through the door. The table filled, the chairs multiplied, and the afternoon disappeared into food and family.
Generosity and prosperity are what make our culture unique. Feeding people is simply what makes us happy. And somewhere along the way, we realized we wanted to turn that joy into something more, a way of life we could share beyond our own dining room. That's why we created Salma's Kitchen.
Who is Salma?
Salma is the mother of our family, and the kitchen carries her name for a reason. When we first arrived, she ran headfirst into a very Canadian idea she had never quite met before: that when a guest says "I'm full," they actually mean it.
In our Middle Eastern Armenian culture, "I'm full" is where the feeding begins. You keep offering, you keep filling the plate, because stopping would feel like you cared less. Salma struggled to learn the other way, and honestly, she still does. Sit at her table and you'll find your plate refilled long after you've surrendered.
That, more than any single recipe, is what Salma's Kitchen is about: loving people, feeding them well, and never quite letting them leave hungry.
Where does the food come from?
From the Fraser Valley, wherever we can get it. Back home, our food was simply real. It was organic before that was a word on a label: no pesticides, animals free to roam, vegetables from soil you could point to. When we settled in British Columbia, the farmland felt instantly familiar.
So we buy local. Everything we can, we source from the farms of Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley, because it's better food, and because it keeps us connected to the growers in our own community. We came here to enjoy this land and to give back to it. Every dish we serve is a small way of doing both.
What can you expect from our food?
Plates you have to work at finishing. We cook the way we cook at home: the dips and salads are made in our kitchen rather than opened, the grilled mains go on for the day you asked for them, and the portion in front of you is the portion we would put in front of our own family. If you leave hungry, we have done something wrong.
The care is the same when we are cooking for a hall full of people. We are a small family kitchen, so the person who picks up the phone is one of the people who cooks your food. That is also why we will tell you plainly what we can and cannot do on your date, rather than say yes to everything and sort it out later.
From our family to yours, pull up a chair.
More on the farms we buy from in why we source from Fraser Valley farms, and on the Sunday table in Sunday lunch, and the table we grew up around. To order, call (819) 743-5953.
Come hungry, leave family
Order ahead for pickup: sandwiches, meals, salads and half-kilo dips.
Place an order