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Ethnic eateries make inroads in meat-and-potatoes country
Milad Rhayem has lived in the United States for 30 years and has run three businesses in Central Pennsylvania that offered a taste of the world's cuisine.
The 57-year-old Rhayem will open Camp Hill's first Lebanese eatery this month after receiving financing from Cumberland County Economic Development Corp. in December. Cedars Restaurant, formerly in midtown Harrisburg, has moved to 2153 Market St. in the West Shore borough.
Rhayem is optimistic, saying anyone can open a business if he or she believes in it. But he acknowledges that ethnic cuisine faces an uphill battle in a landscape dominated by steakhouses and new-American fare.
"The challenge is to have the people accept you," Rhayem said.
Others agree that making an ethnic restaurant successful takes patience with prospective customers who are unfamiliar with Indian or Lebanese food.
"We started out by asking customers what they wanted instead of doing what we wanted," said Vishnu Shenoy president of Passage to India on South Front Street in Harrisburg.
Convincing people to frequent restaurants that serve traditional Indian food means assuring them that stereotypes are not true, Shenoy said. Not all Indian food is spiced with rich, potent curry, for example. That's a common misconception, he said. After 13 years in business, Passage to India seems successful in its attempts to break barriers.
Other challenges exist. Central Pennsylvania doesn't lend itself to a large community of Indians the way larger metropolitan areas...