From Michelin-star kitchen to cozy space

EBRU ERKE

Renowned chefs are creating intimate spaces where they can relax and showcase their creative freedom beyond their high-profile restaurants. Cenk Debensason of Arkestra and Nicola Scandella of Monteverde stand out in this trend.

Most chefs with high-profile restaurants create an additional space for themselves — places where they can feel more at ease and experience greater freedom. Take Yoshihiro Narisawa, for instance. We spent the entire day with him during a photo shoot in Tokyo.

At his two-Michelin-star restaurant, he runs the kitchen with military precision, hardly speaking a word during service. But at his smaller restaurant, just a couple of minutes away, he’s grilling and chatting with guests, laughing along the way. Similarly, Gaggan Anand, named Asia’s best chef in Bangkok, turned the upper floor of his restaurant into an Indian-Mexican fusion spot, while serving 16 guests downstairs all at once. Once the downstairs service is over, he dashes upstairs, takes his place behind the DJ booth, and enjoys tacos while spinning tracks. I’ve witnessed many such examples. And lastly, there’s Cenk Debensason.

Cenk is the chef-owner of Arkestra, the restaurant that earned a Michelin star in its first year, quickly became difficult to reserve a table at, and built a loyal following from the very beginning. Cenk has transformed the area to the left of the restaurant entrance into a space of his own design — a chic bistro with a contemporary, refined menu. With small tables, red velvet curtains, colorful carpets, and soft lighting, it’s a cozy spot perfect for relaxed conversations over a meal. The regulars are usually made up of groups of friends, and since the space is intimate, many of them reserve it for private events. Most of the dishes are designed for sharing.

Cenk often crosses from the Arkestra side to the Ritmo side, greeting regulars and offering personalized suggestions for their orders. When he recommended I try the meat tartare, I mentioned that I’d already had it at Arkestra and was looking to try something different. “But this one is more fun,” he said. I gave it a go, and the Ritmo tartare, made with gochujang sauce (a Korean fermented sauce) and miso aioli (a fermented side dish of Japanese cuisine), quickly became one of my recent favorites.

The Vol au Vent they serve, with a miso onion purée, fresh seasonal mushrooms, and a cream made from porcini mushrooms at the base, feels like a modern twist on classic French cuisine. For the tuna tartare, they season sushi rice with rice vinegar and mirin and fry it to crispy after it cools. Then they spread a homemade mayonnaise with wasabi on it and top it with fresh tuna cubes flavored with ginger oil and soy sauce. The rice crisp was delicious on its own with the mirin and vinegar they added to it. A good duck dish is something you’d expect to see on the menu of a chef from the French tradition, and Ritmo’s melt-in-your-mouth duck leg is prepared using the confit method (cooked in its own fat at low heat for a long time) and served with mashed potatoes on the side.

While chatting with Cenk, I asked if anything had changed since they were awarded the Michelin star. The restaurant was always full, after all. He told me that Arkestra became a more global restaurant after earning the Michelin star, attracting gastronomic enthusiasts from around the world in addition to their regular customers. This has certainly enriched the restaurant’s atmosphere and has been a great source of motivation for the team, he adds. To keep the team dynamic and bring in new perspectives, they started hosting many guest chefs after receiving the star. Those interested can stay updated on event dates via their social media accounts.

  Monteverdi: Authentic Italian flavors in Istanbul

Italian chefs, particularly male chefs, are quite common in Türkiye, but until now, there’s never been a permanent female chef in the spotlight. That’s exactly why I was excited to see an Italian woman chef in charge of the kitchen at Monteverdi, which opened on the ground floor of the Conrad Hotel. The world’s sweetest, chatty and cheerful Nicola Scandella has prepared a menu focused on the cuisine of her home region, Lombardy.

This place stands out from typical Italian restaurants — or those run by people who’ve never set foot in Italy. The interior is very elegant and the dishes are as delicious as if they were prepared by an Italian mother. In other words, they make their pasta by hand, cook the meat to perfection, and serve it simply, without any unnecessary flair. The most iconic dish to showcase this is ossobuco, Milan’s signature dish, from Lombardy’s capital.

In addition to these traditions, Nicole has also included innovative recipes such as Negroni Tuna to bring the joy of negroni, a favorite of “Aperativo” gatherings with friends, to the table. What’s also impressive is their philosophy of using every part of an ingredient—from seed to skin. For instance, leftover polenta is repurposed into crispy chips and served as a snack. Monteverdi’s mixologist and bar manager, Zeynep Özgüvenç, is also preparing exciting and unique cocktails with her team. Meanwhile, the restaurant’s sommelier, Türker Serdar Sümer, recently won the 2024 Young Sommelier Competition. In short, Istanbul has gained yet another ambitious and standout Italian restaurant.