Burhans Enterprises, LLC is the parent company of the restaurant Salaam, located at 33 N. Court St. in Athens, OH. We're a family business, and our employees feel like family to us, too. Here's a little bio of the principals in the restaurant. If you've happened on this page through an external link, heres how to get home.
Mark Burhans
Mark handles all the financial stuff, and enjoys working the occasional shift at the restaurant too. "Hey Mark, would you make me a Turkish?" is a common request from busy servers who have other pressing business to take care of! He also gets to do a lot of the messy stuff (cleaning the grease trap, for instance!) and fixing all the stuff that breaks. Here he and Salaam cook Marcus deal with something in the (pre-mural) alley.
Mark also entertains at the restaurant regularly, with his gypsy swing band, the Coolville Hot Club ( L to R, Mark on Fiddle, Art Werger and Jeff Car on guitars, and John Douglas on bass.) He's a member of the nationally touring contradance band Hotpoint too (see link below.)
Hilarie Burhans
Hilarie (shown on the left, with her brother Mark Lee in their home in Pakistan circa 1962) is responsible for the food, menu design, decor, and so forth... she taught culinary arts for Hocking College for quite a while, in their "Off Campus Programs" dept. (i.e., the prison system!) She's also a 9-time winner of the state banjo championship in the old-time (clawhammer or frailing) category, and plays (along with Mark on fiddle, Marlene Shostak on piano, Nick Weiland on bass, and Mark "Pokey" Hellenbeg on percussion) in the Hotpoint Stringband.
Hilarie and Mark both like to cook. At the Appalachian Stringband Festival near Clifftop, WV, they put on a big spread every night for a week for 20 to 80 guests, while camping! This year they even had an oven. Here they prepare fresh salsa for burrito night:
Preparing food for fun is something they've always done. Dining al fresco at home with friends is a favorite activity.
Ryland Burhans
Ryland (Ry) is the third member of this little business. Cooking, serving, go-fer-ing, painting; you name it and Ry has done it, although the kitchen is his preferred shift. Here he is:
Like his parents, he has made music a pretty big part of his life. Big loves are the guitar, accordion, piano, and most recently, drums. But other instruments still attract him.
