The History of Sultanahmet Köftecisi Restaurant and Its Founder

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BEGÜM: As far as we know, was your great-grandfather the one who opened this place and was the concept his own?

Mr. İsmail Timur: Well, yes. Allow me to introduce myself, I am İsmail Timur Tezçakın, the fourth proprietor of the Historic Sultanahmet Köfteci Restaurant. My brothers and I currently run the business. I serve as one of the representatives. Our founder was Mehmet Seracettin Tezçakın, who is my great-grandfather. We are now in the fourth generation and I hope it will continue to the fifth.

BEGÜM: Did he establish the famous Sultanahmet Köfteci restaurant first?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: No, my great-grandfather began working at a printing house in the 1890s to  early 1900s. He wanted to open a food shop and chose meatballs as his main dish. Although the establishment actually dates back to the 1914s, official records indicate the 1920s as the official establishment year.

NURCAN: Did you say the 1914s?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: He first attempted in the 1910s, but we think so because the insurance documents and documents we have are from 1920. My grandfather doesn't remember either. My grandfather was born in 1927. But in 1920, there was such a date based on the documents we have. We are now going to the 103rd year.

BEGÜM: So, was there a meatball shop here before?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: No, i don’t know if you know, the Sultanahmet was the center of Istanbul. Everything was Sultanahmet and everywhere was Sultanahmet. All newspapers, furnishings, and clothing centers were in Sultanahmet and its surroundings. They call it inside the wall. It was the center of Istanbul. But somehow here was touristic. I guess it also was touristic back in those times. It used to be a place where people lived, but not now. Currently touristy. The name of the road is divan(sultan) road, it is called the road to the palace.

BEGÜM: How would you describe the changes and evolution of the place over the past 100 years? What was it like before and what is it like now?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: I've been coming here since I was little in my own life. I actually started working when I was 13-14 years old. I was both studying and working. In fact, my father provided me the first vacation money by working here. Yes, I have lived freely. When I was 14-15 years old, I used to travel alone to places like Bodrum for vacation. I would work and save money, rather than relying on financial support from my father. If we talk about the transformation of this place, the main change I witnessed was the difference in the customer profile. Because celebrities used to come here. Many of you have already viewed the photos inside the shop, they frequently came here. But when this place is opened to pedestrians and closed to cars, those celebrities stopped coming because they can't come. How they would come? So I understand them too. Bülent Ersoy used to come here in his car once a week, every two weeks, and take his package and go home. I remember those times, but day by day this place started to become more touristic. It started to host more tourists. As it started to host more tourists, the type of customer changed. Currently, we serve 30% of domestic customers and 70% of foreign customers. We have remained the same, only the type of customers visiting us has evolved. Our operations and service quality remain the same.

NURCAN: Do visitors come here intentionally, as tourists?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: First-time tourists in Istanbul often come here after hearing about it from a friend. Those who come a second time definitely try it out because we have done what we were trying to do. We have established trust here. People can eat and leave safely without any harm to their stomach, and we can bid farewell to our guests without any hidden costs, just as the prices appear. This trust has been instilled. We continue this way with trust and flavor.

BEGÜM: Do you have any connection with Inegöl, considering you said there was never a kebab restaurant here before?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: No, my great-grandfather's father was from East Turkistan. He comes from Kashgar, a region currently under Chinese oppression. The meatball he first made was similar to the meatballs from that region. They still use the same recipe, but the format has changed. Previously, with only 30-40 customers per day, the meatballs were served on skewers. As customer numbers increased, the format was changed to individual servings. The recipe he brought is traditional and he brought it from there to here. I later met with Coskun Aral and he said that your meatballs reminded him of the meatballs from there. So, it seems that my great-grandfather's father brought a traditional dish from there to here.

NURCAN: Do they come directly from there or are they from there?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: His grandfather's father came here as a child by himself. At that time, he was setting out for the pilgrimage. At that time, the pilgrimage route seems to have passed through Istanbul, there was something like that. When you leave China, there is transit through Istanbul, not directly to Arabia. Then the First World War breaks out in Istanbul and he stays here. After staying here, he begins to grow his life and settle down.

NURCAN: Did he start by opening the shop?

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: No, as I said earlier, he starts by working in printing presses. This place used to be the center of journalism and printing. He starts working there and then he wants to open his own shop and chooses to sell meatballs. He rents the front of a coal shop and sells meatballs in front while coal is sold at the back. The business starts. Not here, but follow this road, there's the Yerebatan Cistern which has a million stones. The shops were in front of that million stones. I don't remember. It was expropriated later. The million stones were inside the shops. For example, they used to lower baskets into the Yerebatan Cistern like a refrigerator so that perishable food items like meat wouldn't spoil because it was cold and humid. He rented the front of a coal shop that supplies coal to homes and businesses.

NURCAN: So it might have been the location where the current sidewalk is.

İSMAİL TİMUR BEY: Yes, it was the location of that sidewalk. It can also be seen in the old photos, even inside the store.