Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası

In the lively heart of the Kadıköy bazaar, Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası is recognized by its enduring presence as a classic esnaf lokantası, or tradesman restaurant. Opened in nineteen nineteen, the establishment was founded by Fehmi Efendi, who had arrived in Istanbul from Yanya—modern-day Ioannina, Greece—as his family fled the final, turbulent years of the Ottoman Empire. He began his culinary venture by recruiting Hüseyin Efendi, a former cook from the Ottoman palace kitchens, to set the standards for the menu.