Client Spotlight: Ariana Malushi (Balkan Bites)

I planned Ariana and her husband Endri’s honeymoon last fall. They set out on a 2-week cross country road trip to explore the western states. They glamped under the stars at Zion & Mt Rushmore. They stayed at a lodge in Yosemite and a ranch in Moab. The popped into Chicago,  Sioux FallsDenver, Aspen and Kansas City, and Louisville on the drives to and from New York. For their itinerary, visit National Parks Road Trip Honeymoon.

Ariana and her aunt own the female-founded company in NYC, Balkan Bites. A daily staple in the Balkans, Burek is savory phyllo pie that is flaky on the outside and oozing with goodness on the inside.

INTERVIEW

Q: Were you happy altering your honeymoon stateside?

A: We were thrilled with the decision to stay domestic for our honeymoon. We didn’t realize how much beauty there was in our own backyard. The road trip was just the adventure we needed after being cooped up for the previous 6 months. We learned how to fly fish, ate incredible food, and saw moose and bears in the wild. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Q: How are you (and the business) doing after the pandemic?

A: The past year has taught me that a business plan doesn’t mean much and that remaining nimble and really listening to what customers want is the most important thing. We have tried to remain as positive as possible and to celebrate the wins. We are now shipping nationwide and have customers all over the US. If it wasn’t for the pandemic, we would never have known that there’s a demand for our burek (flaky phyllo pies) all over.  I love working with my aunt and continue to learn so much from her everyday about pastry techniques, traditional Albanian food, and Balkan culture and history.

Q: Have you visited Albania?
A: I have visited Albania a few times. The beaches and mountains are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. My husband is from there and still has family that lives there. My father’s family lives in Kosovo and my mother’s family is in Croatia so we try to go back to the Balkans every summer. Every country there is so beautiful and remains relatively untouched by tourism. The best way to see it all is to rent a car and drive from place to place, although the roads are not for the faint of heart.

Q: What’s your dream trip?

My dream trip is going to Italy for a few months and taking cooking classes with every grandmother that I can find. I would also want to take classes at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont, Italy.

BALKAN BITES STORY

It all started when Ariana approached her aunt Alida with a simple idea—to teach her how to make traditional Albanian recipes in honor of her late grandmother, Magbule. On Sundays, they found solace in baking together, reminiscing about her while bringing her recipes to life. Soon enough, they were debuting their Bureks at local markets in NYC from the Columbus Circle Holiday Market to the Queens Night Market, receiving overwhelming support from customers around the world. And so came the start of an ‘unBurekable’ bond: the birth of Balkan Bites, a small company with a big mission to share a piece of their culture through everyday Southeast European comfort foods.

As an Albanian born and raised in Kosovo, cooking was something that came naturally to Alida Malushi. Food and drink bonded people together in a divided land, and she turned to cooking as both a meditative and connecting means. When she was working as a journalist in Kosovo, political unrest drove her to immigrate to the United States in 1991. After landing in New York, she took the lemons that life gave her and turned them into lemonade—literally. She attended the International Culinary Center and turned her passion for cooking into a full-time career. Not long after she opened up her own bakery and was quickly climbing the culinary ladder of success, her mother Magbule fell ill. Quietly, she closed her shop to take care of her mother for over a decade until her niece, Ariana, approached her with an idea.

Ariana Malushi is a first generation American born to a Croatian mother and an Albanian father from Kosovo. Naturally, she grew up with strong ties to her Balkan roots, spending countless summers in Europe with her grandparents eating traditional home-cooked meals made entirely from scratch. Every warm bite of Balkan hospitality nurtured a passion for food, leading her on a culinary journey across 54 countries, where she immersed herself in various cultures through gastronomy. After years of working for marketing and non-profit organizations, she found her calling—to share and to preserve Balkan culture with authentic family recipes that have been passed down through generations. And she knew the perfect chef to help her do just that.