Turkish couple Enver Tuğrul and Gökçe Özbecenes welcome 10 guests to their North Adelaide home every Saturday night for a degustation that transports guests right to the streets of Istanbul.
This story is featured in Issue 18 of Forbes Australia. Tap here to secure your copy.
It’s a chilly Saturday night, but a warm light beckons guests off the streets and into a small dining room in the quaint suburb of North Adelaide, South Australia.
Except inside, it doesn’t feel like Adelaide at all – with hand-knotted rugs lining the floor, rustic wooden chairs, a long-necked lute (a Bağlama, also known as Saz) hanging from the wall and tall glasses full of Raki on tables, you rather feel like you’re in someone’s home in Istanbul. Or indeed İzmir, a city on Turkey’s Aegean coast where Enver Tuğrul, one-half of the heart behind Mini Lokanta, is from.
Mini Lokanta is a Turkish restaurant that opened (at 217 Gover Street, North Adelaide) in February with a twist – it operates out of Enver and his wife Gökçe Özbecenes’s dining room. (The house they live in has an old shop-front that backs onto Gover Street, and while it has been used for many things over time, they knew it would make for the perfect space to bring their cooking dream to life.)
“We turned that front room into a tiny dining room – a place where we could invite people in and serve the kind of food we know from home,” Gökçe says. “We called it Mini Lokanta. In Türkiye, a lokanta is a casual eatery – warm, humble, and familiar. Mini reflects our size: a maximum of ten seats, and one service a week. But the spirit is big – just like the dinners we remember growing up.”
On the night, we learn that the talented Gökçe is the one-woman-show behind the degustation, which includes appetisers like Girit ezme (a spread of Turkish feta blended with pistachios, garlic, olive oil and black pepper, served with melon), and a main of Hünkar beğendi, which translates to Sultan’s Delight (a creamy bechamel with roasted eggplant, topped with tender beef stew and served with homemade pasta).
The pair wanted to create a menu that reflects the foods they grew up with, so you can expect Turkish classics like Mantı, Kadınbudu köfte, and Hünkar beğendi. And of course, there’s traditional Raki, which Enver free-pours alongside the appetisers (but if you ask for it again, he’ll happily oblige).
“The ingredients we use are simple and honest,” Gökçe says. “We cook with fresh, local meat and vegetables, and complement them with key items essential to Turkish cuisine. Things like pistachios, yoghurt, Kaşar cheese, Turkish pastrami, Urfa pepper (isot), sumac, and kadaifi. These ingredients are available here in Australia and help us stay true to the flavours we know from home.”
Enver’s role is equally as important – he’s our waiter and in-house entertainment. In the end, the hosts themselves come to be part of the experience, which was as surprising to guests as it was to them.
“We didn’t expect so many people to reach out, and the kindness in their messages has been really touching. Meeting so many interesting guests has been another beautiful surprise,” Gökçe says.
“Every Saturday, I still feel a little nervous (in a good way) thinking about who’s coming, what conversations we’ll have, and how they’ll experience the food.”
When service ends and Gökçe’s finished cleaning up, she comes out to chat, too. The pair share stories of their past, drink wine, play the Saz, and have you saying, ‘See you soon’, rather than ‘Goodbye’.
You can join the waitlist for Mini Lokanta via minilokanta.com.au.
This story is featured in Issue 18 of Forbes Australia. Tap here to secure your copy.
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