Parade of starred chefs
Last weekend was a gastronomic weekend for the lucky ones who made their way to Maçakızı in Bodrum, a very special boutique hotel famous for its heavenly atmosphere submerged in nature cascading toward the sea on a hillside. The hotel is named after Ayla Emiroğlu, who is affectionately known as Maçakızı, meaning 'Queen of Spades' in Turkish. Eventually, her son, Sahir Erozan, took over the bohemian-chic place and transformed the property into a heavenly secluded hideaway, unique in every sense. The strong element of this exceptional property is its devotion to arts and gastronomy. One comes across carefully chosen artworks that blend beautifully with the architecture and landscape, often with a touch of humor that brings a smile. The exceptional cuisine also makes devoted returning customers smile as they pamper themselves with impeccable service. In the last 25 years, the kitchen has been under the control of Chef Aret Sahakyan, a Turkish-Armenian who met Erozan in Washington D.C. when they were both studying at the university. Since then, they have been partners in crime, in creating the most unexpected startling projects ever, like the much-talked-about “Cities” restaurant and club in the U.S. capital.
Confident cuisine
Maçakızı kitchen is simple, unpretentious and confidently delicious. The cuisine sails on the shores of the Mediterranean, featuring dishes from Spain to Italy, with an emphasis on Aegean tastes, all with the freshest local ingredients possible. The dishes present decidedly a light cuisine as if like a summer breeze, fit for the seaside atmosphere, but there is always room for something more substantial. Maçakızı does not refrain itself from featuring good old classics of Turkish cuisine, much loved by regular visitors. Each week they have certain days devoted to a certain single day’s special, such as döner kebap, or other kebab specials, and every single day they serve a different kind of baklava made by their own baklava master, Mustafa Usta, a native of Gaziantep, the baklava capital of Türkiye. Formerly, some popular Turkish dishes stirred controversy with their high price tag, but Maçakızı’s approach was to demonstrate that even a ubiquitous street food such as lahmacun, flat bread with meat topping, deserves to receive a high status when executed perfectly and served in an unmatched atmosphere. Some classics such as Turkish dumplings mantı or the home-style meatballs köfte have remained on the menu since the beginning as returning customers sometimes come back only for these classics. When Michelin Guide in Türkiye expanded to Bodrum in 2023, Maçakızı was the first bet by its devoted clientele to receive a Michelin star, which it did so easily.
Starry night
From time to time, Maçakızı organizes gastronomic events with guest chefs both from Türkiye and abroad, attracting gourmet clientele. Last year, the legendary Brazilian chef Alex Atala was visiting, cooking side by side with Aret Sahakyan. When it comes to celebrated Turkish chefs, many have formerly toiled in the kitchen of Maçakızı, benefiting from the generous teachings of Sahakyan, who humbly likes to share his knowledge, experience and above all passion with fellow apprentices. All who have passed from his kitchen are devoted fans of him, ready to come back with a single call, when Aret waves his hand, they all line up to cook. This season Maçakızı decided to make a gastronomic weekend for the closure of the season. It was like a true collection of stars under a starry September night. Seven of Türkiye’s Michelin-starred chefs came together for a single tasting menu special for the exceptional night. It was difficult to count the total number of stars the chefs were holding. They were all one-starred including Maçakızı itself, which makes up to eight, but chef Osman Sezener holds one star each for his two restaurants, OD Urla and Bodrum Kitchen, which adds up to nine. Apart from these, three restaurants also hold Green Stars, namely Neolokal by Maksut Aşkar from Istanbul and Teruar Urla by Osman Serdaroğlu and Vino Locale by Ozan Kumbasar from Urla, İzmir. So, it was a total of nine Michelin stars with three Green Stars, adding up to 11 in total.
The princess of the night was the first and only female Michelin-starred chef, Zeynep Pınar Taşdemir of Araka. Among the team was Arkestra chef Cenk Debensason who is a newly starred chef from Istanbul, and last but not least, chef Ali Ronay, was among the brigade of chefs, who took over the kitchen of Maçakızı this year, under the overall surveillance of Aret Sahakyan. The eight-course menu was also like a passage way from summer to fall, some still carrying Mediterranean vibes, such as the impeccable amberjack fish topped with clear tomato juice gems and minuscule cucumbers by Ozan Kumbasar. Some on the contrary were reminding us of the coming winter days, especially the one by Osman Serdaroğlu, the meltingly sublime Pelit cheese brûlée with a touch of deeply flavored Macahel honey, topped with shaved black truffles. Most dishes were subtly reminding us of the reality that falling leaves are soon, while Aret’s dishes were insistently still glittering with summer shine. It was a good farewell to the season, only whetting our appetites to come back to Maçakızı, as all devotees always did!
