With the two stars awarded to its restaurant in the first edition of the Michelin Guide to Istanbul, the Turkish megalopolis finally finds its place on the world map of gastronomy.
This gourmet bible singled out five restaurants on Tuesday, four of which hung one star, and 53 “recommended addresses” for their excellent value for money – an advantage in the midst of the economic and inflationary crisis (by 83%) – “illustrating the wealth of the culinary scene.
For Fatih Tutak, twice crowned, this is an opportunity to show that “Turkish cuisine is not limited to kebabs”, he smiles.
“Turkish cuisine is multicultural, Turkey has welcomed many civilizations: I want to present more than what we know, introduce our terroirs”.
After sixteen years rubbing shoulders with the great starred chefs of Asia such as Paul Pairet in Singapore (“Ultraviolet”), or René Redzepi in Copenhagen (“Noma”), Fatih Tutak returned home to open “Türk” in 2019.
A minimalist choice, light wood furniture and jars of pickles lined up along the walls under the dried bouquets on the ceiling. And, above all, a panoramic view of the kitchen, which is largely open to the dining room.
Only local products are allowed for seasonal and even “micro-season” gastronomy.
“We go to the market three times a week and we choose the vegetables ourselves. At the moment, we enjoy tubers and matsutake mushrooms, superior to truffles for my taste” – he even makes it a “Smurf dessert” which makes him laugh a lot.
Produced in Adana (south), this mushroom considered as the “white gold” of Japanese pine forests – and whose price can reach sky high levels – exudes a spicy, sweet and heady earthy fragrance.
At Türk, the menu of ten dishes changes at least every month.
– Sour and smoky flavors –
Between the Mediterranean and Central Asia, the Aegean Sea and the plateaus of Anatolia, the Turkish geography offers a wide range of products which the chef wants to take advantage of, even if it means putting them on his menu for two or three weeks.
This will be the fate of the Isabella grape sorbet, “with the taste of bubble gum”, specifies the greedy eye his second, Ogun Koca, chef already capped dedicated to innovation.
The team, about twenty people – and four young people in training – also wants to have fun.
“I’m 37 and I’m the youngest,” notes Fatih Tutak, whose “French” blouse – buttoned on the shoulder – barely conceals the tip of the long knife tattooed on his left forearm.
While he takes the pandemic seriously, less than a year after the opening of “Türk”, the chef keeps his brigade and, above all, his producers: “if we let them down, they would disappear”.
He takes advantage of this suspended time to revisit the traditional methods of local cuisine: drying, fermenting, canning, works on acid and smoky flavors – his signature, like this mini-plum in pickles, served as an appetizer.
At “Türk”, “the goal is not to dazzle, but to give a taste”, assures the critic Vedat Milor who praises on his blog the chef’s “sense of research” and the seriousness of his work.
For Michelin international director Gwendal Poullennec, Fatih Tutak’s cuisine combines “tradition, innovation, inspiration and imagination”: “just like what Istanbul can offer”.
He also underlines the “extreme youth” of the rewarded chefs, “providers of the future”.
Last detail: at “Türk”, the wines are also 70% Turkish and the clientele, half local. Tutak is attached to it, as a pledge of confidence.
