The local Turkish diaspora and intrepid diners are already discovering the charms of Bosforo, a gracious new restaurant that recently opened in Normal Heights in the corner space that previously housed El Zarape.
For owner and chef Seckin Sage Anlasbay, it’s the next move in an ongoing mission to broaden San Diego’s awareness and appreciation of his native cuisine. 15 years ago, Anlasbay immigrated here from Çukurova, a municipality in southern Turkey, earning his MBA and working in the design industry before launching a mobile catering outfit called Pizza Bosforo during the pandemic.
Describing himself as a “carb addict” — attributing his love of dough-based foods to the custom of eating flatbread with every meal in Turkey — Anlasbay first tasted authentic pizza during a backpacking trip to Italy in 2009. The self-taught pizzaiolo brought Pizza Bosforo to area farmers’ markets and breweries, offering Neapolitan-style pizzas with traditional toppings along with Turkish sausages and cured meats.
The pizzas have transferred over to the new Adams Avenue restaurant, where they’re cooked in a woodfired oven, adjacent to an elegant dining room hung with Turkish lamps, that also bakes up fresh lavash bread, pitas, and lahmacun, a flatbread spread with seasoned minced meat.
Bosforo’s kitchen staff is entirely Turkish, including sous chef İbrahim Ozdemir, an alum of the Fairmont Grand Del Mar resort in Carmel Valley. He graduated from culinary school in Istanbul.
Ozdemir helps oversee regional renditions of Levantine dishes that range from a variety of meze, from a tzatziki-like yogurt dip that gets smoked over oak to a warm take on hummus drizzled with chili brown butter, to larger plates like mantu, meat-filled dumplings based on a recipe from Anlasbay’s mother. In limited supply are Adana kebap, grilled skewers of beef rib meat with a little lamb fat added in for flavor. “We hand-mince the beef with a zirh (a knife with a crescent-shaped blade) and only make 50 skewers a day to keep them fresh.”
Besides many of the decorations and serveware used at the restaurant, Anlasbay also imports spices and other ingredients from Turkey, including the intensely flavorful pistachios featured in a baklava-like dessert made with kataifi, or shredded filo dough, that pairs with maras ice cream, known for its distinctive stretchy consistency.
Modeled after a meyhane, a classic wine house or pub, Bosforo pours a selection of wines from Turkey as well as cocktails, including an espresso martini made with Turkish coffee and a drink that mixes mezcal with anise-flavored raki.
Next month, Bosforo will introduce a weekend Turkish breakfast, a communal eating experience that includes an array of salads, cheeses, meats, breads, dips, and more.
Anlasbay is still operating Pizza Bosforo, expanding the catering options to include a comprehensive Turkish menu and says that he’d like to bring other types of Turkish restaurants to San Diego. His next venture will revolve around a central open kitchen where diners will be able to choose fish and other seafood to be cooked over a wood fire.
Bosforo
Hours: 4-19:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays
Address: 3201 Adams Ave., San Diego
Phone: 619-634-9646
Online: bosforosd.com
