Bosnian Seida Zečić from Velika Kladuša left for America back in 1999. That’s when she started living her American dream, which has lasted for 24 years. Avaz met Seida in her hometown, where she always comes with joy every year. Today, Seida is the owner of a renowned restaurant in Arizona that serves exclusively Bosnian food.
“When I arrived in America, I first went to a large discount store, not with food, but where you can get various tools for building a house. When I saw all that, the first thing I thought was “whoever doesn’t succeed here, can only kill himself”. I decided to start my own business, because I didn’t want to work for anyone for an hourly rate. Although I am a woman, I have never liked to cook, prepare meals in my life, but fate decided otherwise. I opened a restaurant with exclusively Bosnian cuisine, you can’t even get an American-style egg here. And, in 2013, I received a certificate from the city for the best flatbreads. I have several employees, all the time I prepared the meals myself, and now I have another woman who cooks with me, and who, perhaps, will take over the “Old Town Sarajevo” restaurant. I was born in Velika Kladuša, but Sarajevo is the trademark of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Seida said.
Bosnian dishes were also served in the US Senate.
“I was a sponsor for neglected children and then I got a good recommendation. First, they watched me for a while, controlled who I was and what I was. Then they decided that I would prepare meals for 200 US senators, and that was really the pinnacle of my achievement in America. If I died now, I wouldn’t be sorry. On the menu were only dishes from BiH, from sarma, various pies, stuffed peppers, sogan dolma, to flatbread, baklava…”
Although she succeeded in America, her plans are to definitely return to Bosnia and Herzegovina next year.
“I still want to leave my bones in my country. I’m going to sell everything, and I’m going to sell the restaurant only to a Bosnian, because I want our culture to remain and continue to live in Arizona. Many of our children passed through that restaurant and today they are successful doctors and businessmen in America, and that is a wonderful feeling. I will sell a restaurant to a Bosnian for less money than to anyone else. I’m not married, I don’t have children, but I’m happy. I lived and experienced my American dream, which was just the way I chose it. I have a house in Velika Kladuša, a house by the sea. Upon my return, I will not do anything else, except for humanitarian work. I would like to help children, young talented people, to finish school, university and stand on their own feet. I want to leave everything I earned in America in BiH.
Seida revealed that the restaurant is furnished in an oriental style, like Baščaršija, and apart from our people, she is mostly visited by Americans who are enthusiastic about Bosnian cuisine.
“That restaurant of mine for our people was Bosnia in miniature at the very beginning. I started this business without knowing English. I have never exalted myself, I help both mosques and churches. I was ready to help anyone who needed help. My heart is big, as they say, real Bosnian,” she concluded.
