In the summertime, our tranquil courtyard in the shadow of the Chora Church offers a splendid backdrop in which to sample fine Ottoman cuisine.

Ottoman court cuisine is a buried treasure. Marrying the influences of a nomadic heritage, Persian and Arabic court cuisines and the fallen Byzantine empire, it boasted a spectacular array of tastes. Unfortunately very few recipes from this rich cuisine survived due to a tradition which demanded that cooks guilds keep their recipes and cooking techniques secret.

Here at Asitane, we have made it our mission to reintroduce Ottoman court cooking to the world. Since 1990, a dedicated staff have hunted down lost tastes with academic zeal. We consulted a variety of sources, including the budget ledgers of the three main palace kitchens - Topkapý, Edirne and Dolmabahçe- and the memoirs of foreign diplomats or visitors to try and recreate authentic Ottoman court cuisine.

It gives us great pleasure this summer to offer you 20 long-forgotten dishes which we have revived based on documents that were in palace archives for 500 years. These recipes are from the circumcision feast given for Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent's sons, the young princes Beyazid and Cihangir, in November 1539.

The original accounts make no mention of ingredient measurements. It took an ardous three month trial and error period to finetune the dishes, adhering faithfully to original methods while also adapting them to the modern palate.

At Asitane, we strive to provide our guests with an authentic dining experience that does justice to the splendors of the Imperial kitchens. Our bid to recreate these dishes as they would have tasted has led us across the country in search of the finest ingredients. We buy Circassian cheese from villages in the Bolu mountains, pickles from the renowned Beypazari area near Ankara and saffron from Iran, to name a few.

We are delighted to welcome you to our newly renovated, spacious restaurant, where our hospitable and experienced staff will treat you to an unforgettable dining experience.

Bon appetit!