Destination Dining at Koftegi Grill and Bakery in Little Arabia

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Four years ago, a little bakery known for Lebanese flatbread, Al Sanabel, was already thriving in a Strip Mall in Little Arabia when it added name,  Koftegi Restaurant, in a new sign on the double store front restaurant window.  Owner-chef, Mehmet Kaplan, who took over the bakery, added a Turkish Mediterranean cuisine menu with köfte as the star.  Kaplan knows what people like.  This chef from Istanbul also headed culinary tours in Turkey.  So Mehmet makes the dishes in what is known as Istanbul style. We learned his story last week, thanks to internationally well-known writers, Faye and Yakir Levy, who arranged a wonderful group meal and interview.

Mehmet’s secret is that he chops rather than grinds the beef for the grilled patties for what Mehmet feels has better texture.  The term for it is “butcher style.” The chef adds Red bell pepper, onion, salt, pepper and cumin to the köfte.  Babaganoush (grilled eggplant mashed with tahini), a house salad and pita complete this dish.  It is also available as a more formal casserole with tomato and garlic sauce, or stuffed with Kashkaval cheese, a semi-hard cheese aged for six months with a piquant, spicy and somewhat salty taste after six months of again that has a slight hint of olive oil.

Mehmet has incorporated Al Sanabel’s flatbreads into his menu.  There is an entire section of classic Turkish Boats, a Turkish style “pizza” in the shape of a canoe boat.  Mehmet added his own touch to is by creating the  Juju’s Boat, with muhammara (spicy walnut sauce), doner (vertical-grilled beef) and Kashkaval cheese.

Mehmet Kaplan, Koftegi owner, took time out from a busy afternoon to answer our questions.  But he would not sit down.  The owner of the four-year restaurant laughed,  “I am so tired that if I sat down, I would not be able to get up again.  He runs the place, front and kitchen, with a small staff that makes it look effortless, seemingly in two places at once.  Even with counter ordering, cooking and packing orders or taking dishes to the tables in the double-storefront space requires a lot of work because it is rarely empty, even between lunch and dinner when we were there.