Beyti is a restaurant in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

specialising in roasted meat. It was founded in 1945 in Küçükçekmece and since 1983 has been situated in

Florya Florya is a quarter () belonging to the Bakırköy district of the greater Istanbul, Turkey. It is located along Marmara Sea, and borders to the northeast the neighborhood of Yeşilköy, to the northwest that of Küçükçekmece. Its residents are ...

. The establishment is owned by the

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

Beyti Güler and run by him together with his sons Cüneyt and Ahmet. The main dining room, with a total capacity of 500 seats, offers traditional

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk Empire, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic peoples, Turkic elements s ...

and various

kebab Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, sometimes with vegetables an ...

s grilled over oak charcoal. Beyti kebab, a specialty named after the chef, is the most popular. Beyti is a member of the prestigious international gastronomic organization

Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs () is an international gastronomy, gastronomic society founded in Paris in 1950. It is one of the oldest gastronomic societies in the world. The organization is named after the French Royal Guild of Go ...

Background

Beyti Güler is a descendant of

Turkic people Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

who fled from

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

in the 1720s after the assault of Persians. In the 1870s, following the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

the family moved to

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The family immigrated in 1935 to Turkey. In 1945, Beyti and his father opened a small roadside meat restaurant measuring 30 m² with four tables in the suburbs of Istanbul. The restaurant, though it only had 20 seats, became a popular venue and gained fame soon after opening. Notable journalists, top executives and even high-ranked politicians came to taste the döner kebap that was rarely available elsewhere. An article published in 1965 in the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'' led to international fame. From 1966 to 1974, the restaurant catered daily to four

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

airliners. The restaurant served

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

aboard

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

during his first official trip to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, an opportunity that helped the Turkish kebap become renowned. To meet the growing demand, Beyti Güler erected a three-story building in

, an upscale residential neighborhood close to Atatürk International Airport. Consisting of eleven dining rooms of various sizes plus a terrace, the building was designed in a modern architectural style by Osman Yılmaz Şanlı. The interior decoration was inspired by Ottoman Turkish art. Construction was begun in 1979 and the new site opened by 1983. File:Beyti Istanbul.jpg File:Beyti rest.jpg File:Beyti salle.jpg File:Beyti couloir.jpg File:Beyti facade.jpg

Beyti kebab

During a visit to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1961, Beyti Güler was inspired by the renowned butcher Möller's way of preparing meat. When he returned home, he introduced a dish consisting of roasted lamb fillets wrapped in strips of lamb cutlet fat. It came to be named after him, as Beyti kebab, when the kebab's fame spread internationally. However, the dish made of ground meat, widely sold as street food under the same name, bears little resemblance to his original.

Notable customers

In more than fifty years, many heads of state, high-ranking politicians, top businessmen and celebrities from around the globe have dined in Beyti during their visits to Istanbul.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=35em Buildings and structures completed in 1983 Restaurants established in 1945 Restaurants in Istanbul Bakırköy Turkish companies established in 1945