Cüneyt Darı, the owner of Mısırlıoğlu Architecture and also the manager of Anjeliq Hotels, who is well-known in Alanya with his successful projects around the world, was the guest of Sayım Çınar from Independent Turkish.
In an exclusive interview with INDEPENDENT Turkish, Darı stated that he has recently directed all his attention to the restaurant called Soul of Kitchen, which serves within the Anjeliq House Boutique Hotel in Alanya, and states that he personally pays attention to every detail of the dishes, from the sauce to the presentation.
“Our priority is gastronomy, accommodation comes later,” said Darı in his book “A ship floating on the Mediterranean coast” published in Independent Turkish. His interview titled “Different food, different entertainment every day” is as follows:
– You manage Anjeliq Hotels. The restaurants inside your hotels also attract attention. First of all, can you tell us about the founding process of Soul of Kitchen?
Under the umbrella of Anjeliq Hotels, we have hotels called Anjeliq Club, Anjeliq Downtown and Anjeliq House. Soul of Kitchen is also located in Anjeliq House Boutique Hotel. It is a very valuable restaurant for us.
Spirit and energy are very important to me. As the entire team, we draw energy from the kitchen and reflect this energy to our guests. Our first priority is gastronomy, accommodation comes later. Because gastronomy is very valuable to me and my team. We offer new experiences accompanied by our cuisine and the daily changing view of the magnificent Mediterranean coast. We interpret world cuisine, Far Eastern cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Aegean cuisine and Mediterranean cuisine in the best way. We have an active kitchen. We have weekly changes, we have different menus. I put a lot of effort into Soul of Kitchen and do my best to grow it.
– It is not easy to offer dishes from other different cuisines together with the sushi menu, am I wrong?
We have been actively serving Japanese cuisine since Soul of Kitchen opened. Of course it is not easy, but we continue by adding something more each time. I think we interpreted sushi very well. We have a teppanyaki kitchen and a sashimi kitchen.
We dry and acidify the fish in dry aged cabinets, flavor it with our own sauces and serve it to our guests. We do not offer the products by cutting them directly. We combine imported products in the sushi menu with our own products. We currently have 38 types of sushi, 16 types of sashimi and 6 types of teppanyak. We make all our own sauces.
‘WE ADDED THE TASTES I LIKED IN THE COUNTRIES I VISITED TO OUR MENU’
– How do you create your food menu?
I have been to many countries in the world. Together with my team, we added the flavors that I liked and found different in the countries I visited, to our menu by adding comments from ourselves. In short, we can call our menu the composition I created from the countries I visited. I am closely interested in all stages of the dishes, from the sauce to the presentation.
-Which are your most popular dishes?
First of all, there is sushi and sashimi. Then comes fish products and Spaghetti Lobster. Tomahawk, ribs, lattice, New York Steak, paella and risotto are our most preferred flavors.
‘SOUL OF KITCHEN IS THE KITCHEN OF OUR HOME’
– Soul of Kitchen seems to have completed your boutique hotel here…
Anjeliq House is our home, and Soul of Kitchen is the kitchen of our home.
This is a small hotel, 20 rooms. But we try to think of even the smallest details that will make our guests feel special.
We have already designed our rooms in a concept where you can feel at home. The designer items, furniture and accessories you can see inside are pieces I bought while traveling around the world, and each of them is very valuable. All these accessories have a story and memory. For example, we have a German brand clock that is over 100 years old, a library cabinet that is over 100 years old, and a bar made of 210 pieces of glass…
– Customer satisfaction is very important to you, isn’t it?
We provide services for complete guest satisfaction both in our hotel and in our restaurant, and this is very important to us.
We see our business as a ship floating on the Mediterranean coast. Here you can fall into a peaceful sleep with the sounds of the sea waves. We work with a young team. Of course, we don’t make mistakes, but it gives us pleasure to host our guests in the best possible way. We are forward-thinking, we always want to do different things. I travel the world, research…”Anjeliq” angel, happiness; “soul” means spirit. We want to serve our guests in this way. In other words, we aim to make your soul happy and satisfy your soul.
‘WE ADD VALUE TO BOTH ALANYA AND OUR COUNTRY’
-What is your main profession?
Architect. I do business in the Dominican Republic, New York and Miami. I am abroad 15 days of every month. I do research both for my own profession and related to gastronomy. I share and implement the R&D of these researches with my friends in the team. I think we add value to both Alanya and our country with our different tourism activities. I can see it will get even better. I am thinking of opening a place in Miami and New York in the future. By the way, we have some preparations for Bodrum and Çeşme…
– You have many foreign guests. Which foods are they more interested in?
The ratio of our foreign and domestic guests is actually 50-50 percent. The reason why foreigners prefer us is that we offer world cuisine. The dishes they order most are usually steak, tomahawk, sushi, sashimi, sea bass sashimi, eel tartare, shrimp tartare and squid tartare.
‘DIFFERENT FOOD, DIFFERENT FUN EVERY DAY’
– Çeşme-Alaçatı and Bodrum are the most preferred holiday resorts. In recent years, Alanya has made a name for itself. What do you think are the features that make this place stand out?
Of course, Alaçatı is very strong due to the opportunities of Bodrum. As Alanya, we start the summer season in April and finish it in December.
So it takes too long. We have nice weather. Especially from September to November. If I talk about our own brand; The most important feature of our restaurant is that all of our products are from organic gardens. In addition, we offer flavors from world cuisine and keep entertainment and food together. We called it “eat-drink-enjoy-stay”. We have different entertainment every day of the week. Our guests experience a different meal and entertainment every day. We do not repeat the day. This is effective for both guests and employees.
– Is it possible to enter your restaurant without a reservation?
We do not accept guests into the hotel or restaurant without a reservation. Since we are a la carte, we make special presentations. Of course, it is necessary to prepare in advance for these presentations. We have special day celebrations such as weddings and birthdays, which we call “Anjeliq Event”. For these organizations, it is necessary to prepare special decorations and special requests in advance.
To avoid any disturbing events, we only accept guests with reservations.
‘CUTE BEARS PROJECT WAS BORN ON APRIL 23rd’
– Tropical fruits have been grown in Alanya for a while, and you even have a festival. Are you interested in tropical agricultural products?
I think that, as a country, we are very rich in tropical fruits. Especially in Alanya. Yes, I am interested, I even have a mango and avocado garden. I just mentioned that I was doing business in Dominica, I brought papaya, blueberry and passiflora saplings from there and I am getting serious yields. Our Alanya is really very rich. We recently held an event where we combined all our products with mango. And they were all very much appreciated. For example, we combined mango with sushi and offered it to our valued guests. I think these are effective in both tourism and gastronomy.
– You decorated the garden of your hotel with plush bears. This ‘Care Bears’ application also attracted great attention and is constantly shared on social media. How did this idea come about?
Exactly 10 years ago, when Club Anjeliq Hotel was put into service, we had small mascot bear designs. We were giving it to our guests as gifts in their rooms. This year, I decided to create such a concept at Anjeliq House on April 23, both for children and to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It attracted great attention. Our bears, big and small, are designed to be unaffected by both the sun and water. We change the concept of our bears according to special occasions, and wonderful things emerge. When our guests are happy, we are happy too.