According to CNN, few people take this route, but it is here that visitors will find one of the Turkish restaurants, where the menu – linked to the natural environment – is unlike any other. common in a country famous for its delicious food.
The highlight of the menu is the savory eclair. Photo: Courtesy Çiy Restaurant & Konukevi
Restaurant Çiy, founded by chef Damla Uğurtaş, overlooks the verdant valley and the Aegean Sea from its outdoor terrace, where tables sit in the shade of large olive trees.
For Ms. Uğurtaş, who hails from the Turkish west coast city of Izmir, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the restaurant, it was this remote location that launched her into her own culinary world.
“Since founding Çiy restaurant, I have always dreamed that this destination would be located in a village with Aegean characteristics, where we can feel the soul of the trees and the sea,” Ms. Uğurtaş shared.
After graduating from MSA, a highly regarded culinary arts academy in Istanbul, Ms. Uğurtaş became executive chef at 7Bilgeler restaurant, a famous vineyard in the nearby village of Gökçealan.
However, determined to open her own restaurant, she developed the arduous project and renovation to build traditional buildings in the little-known village of Caferli into her own innovative dining establishment.
Love with nature
From the main gate, the restaurant looks like "a village within a village". The natural stone structure and walkway are set among herb gardens and courtyards overlooking the vast valley.
The main building – which includes the restaurant on the ground floor and three rooms on the upper floor – is newly built, while the three lodges on site are renovated village houses.
All interior design has been specially selected down to the smallest detail, from the classic furniture and traditional rugs in each room to the small lace coasters placed on the tables. The restaurant itself is unusual for this anonymous village. It's a wonderful culinary endeavor with a tasting menu shaped by the chef's imagination as well as local ingredients.
“Çiy Restaurant represents a style that focuses on love for nature. I like cauliflower that can withstand the cold in winter. I often tell the producers I work with, I will only like beautiful, non-toxic and high-yielding plants in the land,” Ms. Uğurtaş said.
“Instead of expecting farmers to produce ingredients they are not familiar with, I demand the best and least intervention-producing crops they know and have produced. So I make them do the work while I do mine. The land here is fertile and the yield makes me happy,” she said.
When the dishes are on the plate, they aim for simplicity, bringing the flavors of nature to full display, but also require high technique and experimentation, helping to bring memorable flavors to diners.
“I never imagined Çiy as a restaurant in the city, which is why I always felt that I had come to the right place. Easy access to ingredients and producers is the restaurant's biggest advantage, and since our priority is flavor, this is the most prominent feature,” she said.
The savory éclair has shrimp shell paste inside the pastry, is filled with shrimp cream and comes with a cup of peach kombucha. Or the homemade pasta, topped with veal ragout or made with ancient grains like Kızılca wheat and served with thinly sliced squid in an egg yolk sauce, Bergama Tulum cheese. All bring unique characteristics to the restaurant.
The dishes will be paired with wines.
Alternatively, the more casual lunch offerings at Çiy restaurant vary depending on the day. On Sundays, there are brunches featuring towers of croquembouche puffs filled with cream and gilded with strands of caramel.
On Saturdays, Çiy's burgers take center stage with house-made pickles, ketchup, peach mustard and a buttery bun.
And on Wednesdays, Uğurtaş and her team make a signature sourdough pizza.
Food for the soul
Çiy restaurant is located in the countryside above the city of Kuşadası on the west coast of Türkiye. Photo: Çiy Restaurant & Konukevi
Defining dishes as “healing Mediterranean cuisine,” Ms. Uğurtaş's restaurant is part of a growing new culinary movement in Turkey that focuses on more than satisfying the palate. taste but also heals the soul.
Demands are changing, recently, chefs are leaving the cities in Turkey to seek out faraway lands to open restaurants to take advantage of nature as well as the diverse cultures and rich ingredients in these regions. different regions of the country.
Adnan Kaya, a columnist for the Hürriyet newspaper focusing on Aegean culture, said that Ms. Damla Uğurtaş's restaurant is breaking new culinary ground in a very unfamiliar location. This trend seems to be the new philosophy in Turkish cuisine and Çiy restaurant will be one of the pioneers.
As time passes, we realize that this planet may no longer satisfy everyone's needs and this is where Mrs. Uğurtaş comes to mind with healing food. She creates her own dishes without haste, with real regional, seasonal ingredients and every member of her staff is integral in this, they all can make a unique contribution.
Visitors to Çiy restaurant will immerse themselves in serenity, far from the hustle and bustle of Türkiye's mega-city Istanbul.
The restaurant is located quietly in a remote village, light chatter on the terrace, the surrounding valley is vast but silent. A signature cold cocktail is displayed on the bar. Visitors here will be provided with the restaurant's own fragrant mosquito repellant made from local herbs.
It's an impressive scene that makes people think of the small but significant revolution taking place in Turkish cuisine. Something closer and more in harmony with nature.
“Prioritize the smallest details to serve visitors in a remote village, you cannot achieve this with food alone. That's why holistic living prevails at Çiy restaurant. We welcome our guests with a philosophy founded on the contributions of the village, the region, the people we work with and contribute personal values to bring about the commons. Every detail embodies this philosophy, from the fabrics to the colors, the plates, the staff to the music, the wine glasses to the wine list. This is what I love most about my restaurant," Ms. Uğurtaş emphasized./
