Growing up in a small village along the Black Sea in Turkey, Suleyman Kirbancioglu started culinary school at age 11, following in the footsteps of his older brothers and brothers-in-law.
These days, he dishes up Turkey’s rich culinary history on the plate at Safran on Ocean View Road in Ettalong Beach.
Taking inspiration from dishes cooked in the Ottoman Palace kitchen to street food, Safran covers all tastes and palates, enjoyed in stylish surrounds of arched windows and Middle Eastern-style lights.
Completing his apprenticeship at venues such as traditional Iokanta restaurants as well as some of the best dining destinations in Europe, Suleyman (Sulo) secured sponsorship to Australia in 2002 and jumped at the chance to explore and expand his horizons.
Taking the opportunity to open his own café with wife Natalie in 2007 on the Central Coast, gave him the itch to return to a more formal restaurant environment.
"At the café, we offered a ‘Turkish Dinner’ once a month, which proved popular and was a good test run to see if a modern Turkish restaurant would succeed in Ettalong,” he tells AGFG. "In 2013, Safran was born. It’s almost 10 years now – it’s a hard slog running a restaurant, but one that fulfils me and keeps me on my toes!”
Sulo says his cooking style is deeply rooted in traditional Turkish cuisine, with a modern approach. He utilises a combination of contemporary cooking techniques, along with traditional flavours and recipes from the Ottoman Empire kitchen and regional dishes.
He loves to follow closely what is happening on the Istanbul restaurant scene and has just returned from a quick trip with new inspiration and new dishes.
"There are some amazing dishes coming out of Istanbul at the moment and I’m constantly inspired by what the new generation of Chefs is producing.”
While there are still the odd disappointed diners who visit Safran thinking they are coming in for kebabs and pide; Sulo says Turkish cuisine is slowly gaining traction with Australian foodies.
Take his delicious traditional Anatolian style quail dolma recipe, paired with a light sour whey sauce, which he shares with us. A rice filling of onion, currants, pine nuts, spice and herbs keeps the deboned quail moist, along with a garlic whey sauce, fried leek and pistachio dukkah.
Becoming bored easily, he is always working on the next dish as soon as a new menu has been released, to keep challenging himself and his kitchen crew.
We can’t wait to see what Sulo will come up with next!
