At Tabac Plus in Little Italy, chef Mehmet Sarı draws on two strands of Turkish cooking: dishes associated with Ottoman palace kitchens and food made in Anatolian homes. He began cooking in Istanbul in 1998 and has worked with Turkish cuisine throughout his career.
Sarı started his restaurant career in Sultanahmet, Istanbul, and later moved to San Diego to lead the kitchen at Tabac Plus, according to There San Diego. The outlet says the menu reflects food he grew up with, including both elaborate palace-era recipes and more everyday Anatolian cooking.
Small Plates and Slow-Cooked Dishes
The menu’s starters range from Muhammara, a spread of roasted pepper, walnuts, tahini, and pomegranate molasses, to Gavurdağı, a chopped salad with walnuts, herbs, and pomegranate, according to There San Diego. Paçanga Böreği combines pastirma, melted cheese, and sweet pepper inside phyllo; Tereyağlı Karides is shrimp prepared with garlic, butter, and herbs.
For a more substantial dish, Mutancana pairs braised lamb with dried fruit, almonds, and warm spices, There San Diego reports. The restaurant presents dishes like this alongside simpler home-style fare, allowing diners to sample different Turkish traditions over the course of a meal.
A Non-Alcoholic Restaurant
Tabac Plus describes itself as a Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant that does not serve alcohol and calls its kitchen halal-friendly, according to its own site, Tabac Plus. The restaurant also offers Turkish coffee, made with finely ground beans in a copper cezve, and hookah, according to Tabac Plus.
Tabac Plus is at 2215 Kettner Blvd in Little Italy, San Diego, according to the restaurant. Its weekend Turkish breakfast is served Saturdays and Sundays from 10 AM to 3 PM.
Owner Muhammed Karatay opened the original Tabac in 2017 before expanding the business with Tabac Plus, There San Diego reports. The restaurant brings Turkish dishes and a non-alcoholic format to a neighborhood with a long history shaped by immigrant communities.
How Little Italy took shape
Italian families settled in Little Italy in the early 1900s, and, alongside Mexican, Japanese, and Portuguese immigrants, helped build the local tuna fishing industry, according to the City of San Diego. The neighborhood later faced disruption when Interstate 5 cut through it and displaced families to other parts of the city, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation says.
