Istanbul Modern SF, Valentine
In-PersonRussian Hill, San Francisco
SOLD OUT
$75.00
Pop-up space
Available for purchase
Banquet (20+ Guests)
mediterranean, middle eastern, turkish
Local, Organic, Vegetarian
In-Person
The legacy of Istanbul, once Constantinople, the capital of four empires, is greater than meets the eye. It's the Bosphorus, Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean; Mesopotamia, Balkans, Anatolia, Caucasus, North Africa, and Persia. It's the palace and the countryside, the business capital and the cultural capital. It's a little Turkish, a little Greek, Armenian, Jewish, Arabic and Persian. It's Istanbul Modern. We tell the story.
This is a sample menu and the contents are dynamic.
Menu detail
Simit and Yogurt Butter
Small Plate
We start our meals with a whipped yogurt butter, which we serve with simit. Simit is the most common street food in Istanbul, it's between a pretzel and a sesame bagel. But consumed in Istanbul more per capita than doughnuts, pretzels and bagels combined in the United States.
Meze, Parsnip Skordalia
Small Plate
This is our take on a classic Greek dish. The parsnips are confit in Skipstone olive oil and emulsified with fresh garlic and lemon juice and roasted pine nuts.
Meze, Squid Kebab
Small Plate
Skewers of local tender squid served with middle eastern seasonal chermoula.
Meze, Circassian chicken
Small Plate
This is a rich and satisfying chicken salad. Everything comes together with an emulsion of walnuts and olive oil, bread and garlic.
Meze, the Wild Card
Small Plate
We keep one Meze open for our creative process, a product that inspires us at the farmers market, or something that one of our other Middle Eastern specialty purveyors are excited about.
Meze, the Wild Card
Small Plate
We keep one Meze open for our creative process, a product that inspires us at the farmers market, or something that one of our other Middle Eastern specialty purveyors are excited about.
Mid Course, Mussels in Fennel Broth
Small Plate
Escabeche style mussels served in Turkish warm spices and fennel broth with crunchy vegetables.
Entree, Brown Butter and Urfa Scallops
Entree
This is an unctuous brown butter poached scallop, the sauce elevates this nutty bivalve to a very savory almost meaty level. We serve it with pickled mushrooms, bulgur and harissa.
Dessert, Georgian Honey Cake
Dessert
Medok cake is built with layers of honey and milk cream. We served it with seasonal citrus Turkish style ice cream.
'Liqueur', the Finale
Beverage
We made it a custom to start our meals with simit and finish them with a home made liqueur. We've served cherry/mahlab, mastica, bergamot and Turkish coffee liqueurs before. We'll have to see which one of our infusions have matured at the time of the event.
Beverage pairing
Beverage
This is a sample pairing.
Homemade Turkish tea kambocha cocktail, rum, spices
Raki - Green grape raki served with mezes
Peloponennese Aghiorhitiko - Black cherries, blackberries, plums, dried herbs, medium-bodied.
Greek assyrtiko -- Mineral, aromatic wine paired with the briny fish course.
Melengic coffee -- Wild pistachio steeped with milk
Add-ons
Beverage Pairing
$30.00
Istanbul Modern SF, Valentine
In-PersonRussian Hill, San Francisco