Türkiye: Two Hotel Restaurants in Bodrum, Maçakızı and Kitchen
As you would expect in a famous holiday destination like Bodrum, there are many stunning hotels renowned for their views, service, bars, and cocktails. However, some of these hotels also stand out for their restaurants, such as Kitchen by Osman Sezener at The Bodrum Edition and Maçakızı led by Aret Sahakyan—you’ll want to visit them even if you’re not staying there!
Maçakızı has been synonymous with Bodrum for decades and deserves the term “cult.” The restaurant was first known for its bohemian elegance and the artistic crowd that frequented it; then, with the arrival of Chef Aret Sahakyan, Maçakızı began to make its mark on the gastronomic scene of Bodrum and crowned its position with a Michelin star.
When Ayla Emiroğlu chose her nickname “Maçakızı” (“Queen of Spades”) to name her hotel in 1977, she may not have known that she would be hosting legendary figures like Mick Jagger, but she is the one who started some traditions in the restaurant that continue to this day. Following Ms. Emiroğlu’s footsteps, the restaurant still offers an open buffet at lunchtime, focusing on simple but delicious examples of Aegean cuisine as dishes with olive oil. In addition to these traditional delights, guests can also taste the flavors of the daytime menu prepared by Chef Sahakyan, which includes many dishes from Aegean mantı (Turkish style dumpling) to fresh salads.
But of course, the primary flavors of the menu are presented at dinner time. Standing out dishes are prepared with lobsters, scallops, and seafood sourced from Çanakkale, meat from Balıkesir and İzmir, shrimp from Mersin, and other sea products from local fishermen, while artichokes, asparagus, and fermented sunchoke “mantı” also shines out. The hotel’s restaurant has many vegetarian and vegan options, as the chef’s tasting menu has a vegetarian version. Aegean cuisine is known for its rich variety of herbs and vegetables, and Chef Sahakyan uses these local ingredients successfully while honoring Ms. Emiroğlu’s legacy.
Sahakyan states that the region offers excellent ingredients and local cuisine is delicious, but also it is generally too simple, noncomplex, and uncomplicated. Therefore, his mission is to blend local ingredients with international techniques and standards. Having lived in the USA for years like Sahir Erozan, Ms. Emiroğlu’s son who continues her legacy, Sahakyan has been continuously raising the bar over the years to transform Maçakızı into a distinguished gastronomic destination. A glance at the wine list shows that their focus is not only on the food but also on improving the restaurant’s cellar: with over 20 different wine available by the glass, the restaurant has one of the most extensive wine menus in Bodrum. More than 150 local wines and a selection of significant international wines, such as French, Italian, and Hungarian, are available.
Situated right by the sea, Maçakızı combines comfort and luxury in an Aegean-Mediterranean spirit while embracing the flavors of Chef Sahakyan, a collaboration that has been going on for many years. Open from March to November every year, the restaurant welcomes both the hotel’s guests and visitors who come to Bodrum with a visit to Maçakızı high on their list.
Kitchen
As a celebrated chef with three different Michelin Star (including a Green Star and two One-Starred restaurant) across three different restaurants in Türkiye, Osman Sezener is now well-known for his Kitchen in Bodrum. Sezener, as one of Türkiye’s leading implementers of the farm-to-table concept with his restaurant Od Urla on his farm in Urla, uses many products from his farm at Kitchen too.
Located in The Bodrum Edition Hotel, Kitchen first impresses with its stunning location. The hotel is situated on a perfect bay with a view that combines the sea and the sky, and Kitchen is here to embellish the night with delicious dishes that has begun with a cocktail at sunset. In Kitchen, Chef Sezener creates the atmosphere of an authentic chef’s restaurant: the menu is concise yet complete, the number of tables is much limited, and these choices are affecting every aspect of the service. The attention to detail is evident from the very start of the evening, thanks to the different types of artisanal bread presented on a cart, accompanied by different types of butter and olive oil. You can immediately understand that it’s going to be a night that promises to push culinary boundaries.
Kitchen’s menu has two separate sections: the section of “Chef’s Explorations” features a selection of four cold starters, four hot starters, and four main courses, while the dessert section offers three different desserts and three different flavors of sorbets. Seafood is the main focus of the hot and cold starters, where Chef Sezener showcases his unique interpretations of rare regional delicacies like Bodrum sea bream, Ildır calamari, Bargilya blue-tailed shrimps, and Aegean grouper specialties. You can also find flavors on the menu that are identified with the chef: Sezener loves to combine seafood with citrus sauces and Divle obruk cheese “mantı” with pear. You can choose three-course or four-course alternatives from the menu and alongside the meat lovers’ favorites, the menu includes vegetarian and vegan options. But if you want to try more dishes, there is a section of “The Journey of The Chef” on the menu. This tasting menu is indeed a journey that will excite any gastronomy enthusiast with three cold and three hot dishes, a sorbet, and a dessert.
The tasting menu is also available with wine pairings, but the drinks menu deserves special attention. Sezener’s special attention to wine is reflected in the restaurant’s extensive selection which ranges from local Aegean grapes to famous French champagnes. Each wine is chosen to be complementary, offering discoveries and harmonious flavors with the dishes. As expected, the restaurant’s bar also serves signature cocktails and Sezener hasn’t forgotten the sustainability efforts that made his other restaurant Od Urla to earn a Green Star: for every cocktail ordered, an olive seedling is donated to local farmers’ olive groves.
Chef Sezener is one of those chefs who profoundly understands that gastronomy is linked with agriculture, local production, and the people behind these processes, and that progress in the culinary field can only be possible with proper respect for all these components. As a chef from the Aegean region, he honors his roots at every opportunity but doesn’t stop there: He uses the products of the area in the most refined way on every menu to enhance the region’s cuisine while supporting the people of the region for a long time. This commitment makes Kitchen’s Michelin star especially significant. After all, high-end restaurants no longer shine with the attitude of “at all the cost” but with the philosophy of “together with nature”.
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