Man sells 400 Adana kebabs a day in US restaurant

Burak Coşan – MIAMI

A Turkish man has said he is selling some 400 Adana kebabs a day in his Miami restaurant, which has entered the Michelin Guide in its first year.

“Our restaurant, Doya, was opened a year ago, and we succeeded to enter the Michelin list with Turkish food,” Erhan Köspeten said.

Köspeten, who is the son of former transportation minister Mehmet Köspeten, has been living in Miami, the U.S., since 2004.

Doya is his second restaurant after Mandolin Aegean Bistro, which was sold to Soho House.

“We are promoting Turkish food in the U.S.,” he said. “We have baklava, kebabs, lahmacun, pitta, mantı and mezes in the menu.”

When asked what his customers preferred most, Köspeten directly pointed out Adana kebab. “We sell around 400 Adana kebabs a day,” he said, adding the customers’ interest in the “cağ kebab.”

Adana kebab is a Turkish dish that consists of a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled on an open barbecue filled with burning charcoal. The dish originated in the southern province of Adana.

Cağ kebab is a horizontally stacked marinated rotating lamb kebab variety, originating in the eastern province of Erzurum.

“Olives, beans, tomato paste, rice, dried meat… Most of the ingredients come from Türkiye,” Köspeten noted.

The owner of Doya has a target of forming Doya chains of 10 restaurants in the next five years. “Our second Doya will be opened in Doral, close to Miami,” he expressed.

Monaco, Shanghai and New Mexico are other destinations Köspeten is considering opening new Doya chains in.

When asked if the Turkish brand will be opened in Türkiye, he expressed, “We have not decided yet. But if we make such a decision one day, it surely will be in Istanbul.”