They had their first date in New Town, and now they’re moving their restaurant to New Town.
Burcu “Bee” Mukus and her fiancé, Sevan Yesilcimen, are moving their Istanbul restaurant from Jamestown Road to the former spot of the Corner Café at 5203 Center St. They hope to open in early July with the same selection of Mediterranean food, Mukus said, while also introducing some new items to the menu.
They’re also renaming the restaurant Anatolia Bar & Grill after their 7-month-old daughter, Kyra.
Mukus is Turkish and Kurdish, her fiancé is Armenian, and both are immigrants. Kyra was born in America and was baptized in a Greek Orthodox Church.
“I come to think about it, ‘Why Istanbul?’ Let’s use a name that’s going to represent our family,” Mukus said. “[Kyra’s] got all of these nationalities mixed in her so we came up with the name of Anatolia. Anatolia back in the day was the Greeks, the Armenians, the Turks, the Kurds living altogether.”
While Mukus and Yesilcimen come from different countries, they met in Merchants Square when Mukus made a lunchtime delivery to the jewelry store where Yesilcimen worked as a diamond setter in 2016.
“We just looked at each other and the next day we were in the movie theater, and the third day we were dating,” Mukus said. “We’ve been together every day since.”
Their first date was at Paul’s Deli in New Town after knowing each other for 48 hours. Yesilcimen soon began running the kitchen for Istanbul restaurant, and it wasn’t long before Mukus had a baby on the way and a ring on her finger.
“He took a lot of work off my shoulders,” Mukus said. “I’m glad he gave up his career to help me. I’m blessed to have him.”
The couple bonds over food, and even after they leave the restaurant they continue to cook for each other until 11 at night.
As they move their restaurant to the place where they first met, they’re also adding more Mediterranean and Armenian cuisine to their menu.
Anatolia guests can try manti: beef dumplings with garlic yogurt, sizzling butter, mint and crushed pepper.
Armenian pizzas are filled with ground beef and topped with minced vegetables.
Mukus will also offer onions and peppers stuffed with rice, ground beef, parsley, and herbs and spices.
The restaurant may have to wait a couple months to get a license to sell beer and wine, but once it does, the couple plans to sell local brews, high-selling domestics like Budweiser, and even Armenian and Anatolian beers.
Istanbul has been open at 1784 Jamestown Road since July 2015, and with the move Mukus said she has high hopes for the family business.
“We decided to look for a new place,” Mukus said. “This place is a hidden gem on Jamestown Road.
“Not too many people know it,” she said, adding New Town is a more visible, well-traveled place for their restaurant.
“We put everything we’ve got [into] this business and hopefully we’re going to be as successful as we were here — and better.”
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Yesilcimen was a diamond setter rather than a salesman when he met Mukus.
