Gile: The Modern Turkish Cuisine By Two Young Chefs

Two talented good friends, Cihan Kıpçak, Üryan Doğmuş, and just the thing we needed that rose out of this companionship: Gile…

 

Everyone knows me knows that as far as I can, I try to express my ideas about the promotion of Turkish coffee as well as the modern interpretation of the traditional Turkish cuisine.

 

Besides the restaurants such as Mikla, Nicole, Neolokal and Tabla that I’ve been following since their first day in this regard, Gile is another restaurant that I’ve been following and much appreciated. Because these two young chefs do not make a mistake blending different ingredients in an absurd way for the sake of making a difference, to the contrary, they try to create without straying from the Anatolian style. In my opinion, they are quite successful in their creation.

 

Although the restaurant is located in a relatively good neighborhood which is Akaretler, the overall profile of Akaretler, in my opinion, is not appropriate for the restaurant. As such, the chefs too have the idea of moving to another place as soon as possible.

 

They usually let a few tables to stay empty so that the atmosphere would be silent, relaxed and cozy. The Maitre d’Hotel and sommelier Görkan Özkan leads the servicing team. Umut was the name of the talented waiter who tended our table. I said “talented” because we can meet such waiters in Turkey who still do not know about the dish they service, or do not need to consult the cook saying “Allow me to ask the cook for further information,” or simply give the wrong information.

 

The first arrival at our table was a stylish presentation of the butter and multi-grain breads made by the restaurant. Just like it is done in the refined restaurants, the butter came as salted and unsalted. The salted one was sprinkled with poppy seeds and enhanced with Erzincan tulum cheese as well as lemon rind. The unsalted one was flavored with lavender and honey. I and my friends gave into these seductive tastes and gobbled them in no time.

 

The first amuse bouche was sunchoke soup which I think should be featured more in the restaurants in Turkey. Although the soup originally tastes a little sweet, the Gile version was a bit more acidic in a good sense thanks to the additional orange oil.

 

The following amuse bouche was lakerda (a type of Turkish meal) made with bonito and accompanied by crispy tarhana, radish, haydari with wasabi and chives. The dish was scrumptious.

 

Another starter was fried mussels. Boosted with tarator (nut and garlic sauce), tarragon, roasted leek, tarragon oil, crayfish foam with cumin, the presentation was probably the weakest link of the night. The reason is unfortunately the taste of the same dish I’d eaten at Tabla a day before was still on my mind.

 

Iskenderun-style shrimp was a delicious crunchy snack with all the roasted thin green pepper, onion, garlic puree, pine oil and again shrimp juice.

 

The following presentation was starring kömbe. Mostly associated with Eastern Anatolia and Hatay, it is a type of börek with thick layers which is mostly preferred over bread in the villages. The Gile version had roasted quail and quail meatball underneath. As I can say it was one of the most successful dishes of the night, it partly owes its wonderful smell and taste to the butter with juniper.

 

Stuffed vine leaf with duck won my sympathy with ginger, one of my favorites. The new Turkish dark ale which I tried and liked when it was first marketed, Gara Guzu lifted its filling to another level. But as I spoke with the two chefs, such a great dish with such a burned texture wiped away all the good mark it could get from me.

 

Gile’s take on the karnıyarık (a Turkish meal with eggplants) appeals to the lamb-meat lovers like me. As I’m in love with lamb meat and tenderloin (tr. küşleme), I absolutely loved the dish with its perfect accompaniment, the yoghurt with coriander, a type of spice that help me in the kitchen when I want to make a Far-Eastern touch on the dishes. The only negative point was that the eggplant was a bit firm to the bite.

 

Stone basse with butter was made with grilled stone basse or meagre, thin slices of ember-roasted celery root and citrus flavor. As the ember smell added another dimension to the dish, it was quite successful.

 

A member of Cupressaceae, the Syrian Juniper (tr. andız) is known for its molasses. But Gile feeds the fire of lamb meat with the Syrian Juniper so that it infuses its marvelous smell into the meat. Accompanied by potato puree with curd, all I can say about the dish without any hesitation is that it was the star of the menu!

 

The next and final arrival at the table before the desserts was ayran pana cotta. Made with Earl Grey tea and the other ingredients I like a lot such as grapefruit, orange, lemon candy, lime; the taste the dish offered was like a dance on the palate.

 

Following the festive sweet-sour final, the first dessert was a mash-up of two contrary tastes too. Spicy chocolate was composed of raspberry-flavored sorbet with red pepper flakes along with Çanakkale pepper powder. However, its taste was perfectly balanced with the help of a piece of dark chocolate with 70% cacao.

 

The Gile’s take on ekmek kataifi (literally, bread kataifi) was made with yoghurt ice cream, baked almond pieces, marzipan, red plum and backberry tea sauce. It was an exquisite end to the dinner.

 

We need more of such restaurants to interpret the traditional Turkish cuisine with modern touches. However, I recommend the chefs to revise their pricing policy. Because, considering the economy of the country, the prices wouldn’t be appealing to the most (about 200 TL without wine pairing).

 

Since the day it was opened, the visitors of Gile either love it or hate it, like black and white. I’m on the side of Gile. If you give a try at the dishes of the two chefs without any prejudice, I’m sure, you will love it too.

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…

 

Gile Restaurant

www.gilerestaurant.com

+90 212 327 11 66

Şair Nedim Cad., Akaretler Sıra Evleri, E Blok No:14

Akaretler/Beşiktaş, 34353

İSTANBUL