A Candidate for Being One of the Fifty Best: Alancha

The five senses, historically first mentioned by Aristotle, are essentially limited to only body. Sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch… Following Aristotle, some ancient philosophers used the term “windows of the soul” to describe these senses.

 

Located on the highest hill of Alaçatı, Alancha aspires to soaring through the windows of your soul with its staff welcoming you in an excited manner, the melodies coming to your ears, its peaceful design and decoration, a menu that makes you think, the marvelous smell in the air that you would fear the wind would swipe away, the plate presentations that you wouldn’t touch not to ruin them and the unique flavors.

 

The restaurant is successful in realizing all of these objectives more than enough.

 

The restaurant was named after the only pine forest of Alaçatı. The word “alança” (the Turkish spelling of the word) means a grassy clearing among the trees.

 

Using only local products and blending the Anatolian culture with the naturalist culinary trend, Alancha is a pioneering restaurant in Izmir.

 

Kemal Demirasal is at the helm of the restraurant. We know him from Barbun Restaurant. Born in İzmir, the young chef graduated from the business management department but his story is not limited to the culinary business. He also won Turkish Wind Surfing Championship six times. What inspired him to put aside the surfboard and work in a kitchen was his deep passion for gastronomy, persistence in exploring new things and unrelentingly experimenting with everything. In other words, he is a “self-trained” chef. The Head Chef Kemal Demirasal first introduced new flavors to Alaçatı with Barbun Restaurant in 2007 and then crowned his success with Alancha. Murat Deniz Temel is another important name behind this success.

 

The writer of a success story extending from Mersin to Noma which the best restaurant of the world, Deniz Temel is an ace in the hole for the restaurant to enter the list of “the World’s 50 Best Restaurants”. Following his gastronomy training in the high school, he worked for Mövenpick, Four Seasons and Murat Bozok’s Mimolett. As he made a name for himself as the “young Turkish in Noma”, Murat Bozok expanded his vision with his work experience in Renae as well as in D.O.M., the seventh restaurant of Alex Atala, a friend of mine.

 

 The Sous Chef Yiğit Alıcıoğlu is again one of those who changed their course to pursue the culinary passion while leading a completely different career path. Having stepped into the gastronomy business with the scholarship he won in Istanbul, the chef made researches on the new trends in the gastronomy world and their places in the Turkish gastronomy scene following his internship in Renae. After working for Barbun for a while, a restaurant he explored during his researches, he was transferred to Alancha. As of now, he and Deniz Temel are continuing to work for the restaurant and making it a better place day by day.

 

MSA (Tr. The Culinary Arts Academy) is definitely one of the most important cogs in the machine which is run by a dynamic team. Taking a basic training in MSA, these brilliant youngsters were aware of this great opportunity in their hands. It was worth seeing the passion and the excitement on their faces. Starting to prepare at 10 A.M. and leaving the restaurant at 2 A.M., the team serves to only 50 customers.

 

The small hill where the restaurant is located is within walking distance to the center of Alaçatı. When you climb up the spiraling stairs made of stone, you will be offered a warm welcome by the young team. Right after that first encounter, Alancha will start to immerse you in its magical atmosphere.

 

Naturalism over the Wood Fire

 

The concept of the restaurant was carefully designed. You start to feel that aura once you take the first step into the restaurant. Actually when the building was under construction, they even consulted Psychoanalyst Ümit Eren Yurtsever. Intended to analyze and deconstruct “pleasure” so as to be appealing, the restaurant was brought to life by the Architect Gürcan Dere and the concept was created by Kerem Akçaba. The result is an exquisite example of a modernized rural architecture.

 

The kitchen looks like a glass cage with all its glitter visible from a distance. You would probably like to tour this flavor factory like an aquarium before you sit down to have your dinner. The most important feature of the kitchen is that they never use a gas stove or an electric fryer.

 

Having been inspired by his work experience at Noma, Kemal Demirasal turned the kitchen into a primitive era kitchen in order to achieve the basic qualities of the naturalist cuisine. For this reason, they use wood from cherry trees and peach trees for the stove and again wood charcoal for the oven and the standing grill. Besides smoking, they use such techniques as fermentation, drying, preserving goods in vinegar and pickling. In other words, they integrate the techniques used in the prehistorical ages into the modern cuisine.

 

They use only local products in the kitchen of course. Any kind of imported product or food is definitely not allowed in the restaurant. They make the best of the local produce and the local vegetation. The products and foods which have zero food mile, in other words, which were transported from the same region the restaurant is located in could be either edible or not. Because some of them can be used as a decoration for the dishes or for the restaurant. For example, they mix the wheat and water and leave the mixture to freeze so as to create an ice platter which is another factor to make the presentation of the wheat meal (buğday aşı) even more exciting.

 

Considering the various plants such as the sage, the violets, the citrus thymes and the wild purslane growing in the back garden and used in the dishes, Alancha apparently didn’t take the easy way out and has chosen to be selective in its dishes wending its way to a refined naturalist cuisine.

 

A Surprise Menu

 

Those who would like to drink something prior to the dinner can try the impressive cocktails created by the mixology (cocktail art) expert Göksel Güleç. There is not a menu. Göksel asks what kind of flavors you would like and creates a glass of cocktail custom-made for you. On top of that, if you didn’t miss the sun-set, you are free to enjoy these great and tasteful moments accompanied by a spectacular landscape.

 

We tried black label which was brewed with green tea and smoked. Mixed with anise foam, the drink was served in a clay cup, accompanied by a piece of sweet rice biscuit. It was a creative creation as well as a tasteful one.

 

The tables on the terrace have a proper distance between them and really comfortable chairs. There were sexy lambs between the tables, which looked like little trees.

 

The menu brought to us was breath-taking.

 

There were no dishes listed on the menu, rather the poem “Dies Slowly” written by the Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros, driving us to question life. The reason why is absolutely clear: You’re about to try new and different things.

 

Alancha offers you two choices: Local (165 TL) and Anatolian (165 TL) degustation menus.

 

The dynamic content of the “Local degustation menu” changes in accordance with the season. The chef’s intention with the menu is to offer the freshest ingredients put through the least possible amount of processes in keeping with the naturalist context.

 

“Anatolian degustation menu” which was launched this year embraces not only the local vicinity but also the many civilizations which interacted with the region in the past. Available from the month of May till the end of summer, the menu was our choice that night.

 

10 different amuse-bouches were served as a starter.

 

Crispy tarhana was served on a stone with some condensed yoghurt and a sprinkle of pine pollen collected from cupressus goldcrest.

 

Sarma was prepared in the same fashion with yaprak sarma (stuff vine leaves). The bottom consisted of rice stuffing which was pureed and crisped. On top of that crispy layer was some sauce made from the fresh vine leaves and a dash of cinnamon. That was like a one bite sized sarma chips!

 

The presentation of lahmacun was similar to steak tartare. The flatbreads were delicious as well as looking appetizing with steak tartare, lahmacun sauce and a sprinkle of Urfa peppers and red onions spread on them.

 

Eel was served smoked and dried in an embellished plate, accompanied by various spice seeds and pickled stonecrops.

 

Smoked meat was again prepared in a similar way to the “beef jerky” with strips of meat trimmed of their fat and dried. The drying process takes about 2-3 weeks. The meat was accompanied by chocolate flakes because of its spicy flavor. Since I’m not that into the smoked meat dishes, it didn’t leave a good impression my palate.

 

The presentation of pişi was rather creative, placed on top of some goat cheese cream and seasoned with fine coffee. It was accompanied by some jam made with the herbs collected from the local vicinity. The problem with the dish was that they don’t fry goods in hot enough oil. While the Japanese restaurants deep-fry even the swordfish until it becomes crispy and serve it as a light dish, as against deep-frying, traditional frying process ends up in an oily and heavy dish in Turkish restaurants.

 

Lettuce core was a cute dish made with the renowned Yedikule lettuce grown in Istanbul. In addition to the sauce made with brown butter, olive oil, lemon and pastırma, also the seeds of some the ingredients were sprinkled over the top of the dish. Enriched by herbs such as parsley, mint and fennel which you could not see but still smell, it was like the whole salad was squeezed into a small amuse bouche.

 

Olive oil was flavored with thyme and ground black pepper. It was accompanied by a piece of sourdough which was left to fermentation for nine days.

 

The main courses consisted of 8 dishes.

 

Fresh fruit (Taze Yemiş) was made with the famous “kuş boku pistachio” grown in Antep. The pureed pistachio was accompanied by some fresh walnuts, almonds and lemon thyme.

 

Wheat meal was a rework of the cold yoghurt soup which is a traditional dish served at the wedding feasts. The mixture made with smoked Firik bulgur (a traditional bulgur recipe where the fresh green wheat is roasted) and chickpeas. The dish was served cold and accompanied by some yoghurt enriched with brown butter, chicken stock and a liquid mixture made from the Aegean herbs.

 

Raw flavors was a dish consisted of raw sea bass which is called “Suzuki uzuzukkuri” in Japanese. The dish was left in olive oil and lemon sauce only for one minute before it was served to the table. The last touch on the dish was made with the scallion stalk mixed and pureed with olive oil and egg. As it tasted a bit sour, the fish and the scallion aroma created a good combination.

 

Greek salad was the first hot dish among the main course dishes. Although it was made with the ordinary ingredients such as tomato, onion, goat cheese and cucumber, the difference between the traditional Greek Salad and its Alancha version is that the ingredients were grilled. The fresh bean was another ingredient in the salad; it was first smoked and scalded and then pureed to extract its juice. Although its name feels kind of wrong for the dish, it was a delicious interpretation of the salad.

 

The sea bass was cooked following the same instructions in the recipe of the “sea bass in a salt crust”. Accompanied by the Antalya style haricot bean salad with tahini, the dish was the second best of the night.

 

Mantı was filled with home-made goat cheese. The cheese with the consistency of curd cheese was enriched with sumac juice, chicken stock and pastırma juice and garnished with flowers.

 

Söğüş (cold cuts made from the head of a calf or sheep) was the best dish of the night for both its presentation and taste. Made with beef cheeks, tongue and brain, the dish was enriched with hibiscus or flower salt and wheat powder. The flat bread pieces baked on the grill were used as spoon. Once served inside a real animal skull, the look of the dish had been transformed over time. The Alancha version looked like a painter’s palette.

 

Lamb was cooked in a stone oven on low heat for two hours. Still pink on the inside, although the meat was cooked in a short time, it just melted in the mouth. This third best dish of the night was accompanied by stuffing rice, apricot marmalade and demi-glace sauce. The grape vine leaves that came on the dish were used to eat the meat.

 

When it was time for the desserts and petit fours, the first ones were the refreshing kind of flavors.

 

Sour grapes dessert was made with smoked and peeled grapes. At the bottom of the grapes was a kind of white tea brewed from the pines in the backyard. With a dash of sesame powder on top of the fruits, the dessert functioned as a palate cleanser rather than working on my sweet tooth.

 

Grape molasses with tahini was composed of tahini mousse and smoked grape molasses. With the pieces of “crumble” the famous British dessert, it left the kind of taste on the palates that took us to our childhood.

 

Pine custard was again made from the pine trees, grown in the same vicinity. Accompanied by comb honey, the dessert also had some citrus thyme in it.

 

Kerebiç, a traditional dessert in Mersin, actually looks like sweet kibbeh (tr. içli köfte). As the Chef Deniz wanted to make a tribute in the form of a dessert to his home town, Alancha’s kerebiç was different from its traditional version.

 

For the potato dessert, the middle of each small potato was scooped out and filled with chocolate mousse and was coated with chocolate.

 

Fresh stonecrops consisted of stonecrops which were dunked into bitter chocolate and then added a sprinkle of hibiscus salt on the top. We ended the night with this dessert which actually wouldn’t be appealing to the Turkish palate.

 

A Difficult Wine Pairing

 

It is impossible to talk about a complete wine-pairing for each dish at Alancha where you get more than 20 dishes. Because it would be difficult for the diner to go along with such a wine pairing let alone its difficulty for the servicing staff. Because if we imagine that we would be served 3-4 cl wine for every dish, that would add up to one bottle for each one of us. Besides, it would be a messy wine-pairing because the white meat and the red meat dishes were randomly served. For this reason, Can Bayraşa resorted to pairing the whole menu with seven different wines. As he starts with a recommendation from the light and sparkling wines for the starters, he goes on to recommend white, rosé and red wines for the rest of the course from a small menu that changes every week.

 

The wines accompanying our dinner at Alancha were Fume Blanc, Turkish Chardonnay: Narince and again a local Bordeaux wine.

 

An Ideal Restaurant

 

The first experience-driven Turkish restaurant loves the difficult. The biggest mistake made by the other Turkish enterprises is that when the restaurant starts to draw some attention, they crown their popularity opening another restaurant hence dividing the quality, or move to a bigger city to serve a lot more customers. In brief, they do not chase the taste rather the money.

 

What a relief that Alancha is striving to know Alaçatı better with its atmosphere, soil and sea and exult it almost like showing their gratitude to the region.

 

Of course, they come across some problems during their journey. Because the Turkish people have a conservative palate. It takes time for the uneducated palates to take a liking to such a menu, since they are not open to marginal, new and creative flavors.

 

I was fascinated by the culinary skills of Deniz and Yiğit; the restaurant still has a long way to become internationally known. Kemal is another person that I appreciate his courage and entrepreneurship a lot. As long as he keeps the pricing at a reasonable level, the next important part of the job falls to us:

 

These young people who have done such a great job in İzmir need the support of the Aegean people not to lose their motivation!

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…