During the grand opening of Opelia in mid-November, on East Main Street, Los Gatos welcomed its newest locale for Mediterranean cuisine to the sounds of Turkish music. With a surrounding of faux olive foliage and blue artwork on the wall, this new business has already succeeded at replicating a Mediterranean experience.
Owner Ali Kazankaya moved to America more than 20 years ago and has spent years working in the restaurant industry.
The first entrée listed for Opelia is Manti Merguez, a traditional Turkish dumpling stuffed with Anatolian lamb merguez (like sausage). “We have incik, which is a braised lamb shank, which comes with keskek—a barley,” Kazankaya said of the popular dish. “People tell me that they typically don’t like barley, but then end up liking this. It’s almost like a Turkish mac and cheese, as it’s mixed with kasseri cheese, a well-known Greek cheese.” A sample of the cheese reveals a flavor profile that is a mix between mozzarella and fontina cheese, with the texture of fresh Parmesan.
Opelia is the first of its kind, and is described as an Aegean-Anatolian restaurant. With the family-oriented home-style dining that features a Turkish Mediterranean feel, customers can expect to experience something out of the ordinary. “For drinks, we have famous Ondas and Mardini,” he said. “Those are traditional favorites with a Mediterranean twist. We have our version of an espresso martini, which is rum based, when normally they are vodka based. We also use our own Turkish coffee, and have something called Badam-i-Saba, which has cardamom and ginger in it.”
‘I never wanted to have conflict in my life again’
—Ali Kazankaya, owner
As Kazankaya explains his zest for restaurants and where it originates, his Turkish roots are so intact that he speaks into the phone in Turkish (which is then translated to English) to explain his upbringing. “I was born in Erzincan, Turkey, and lived there until I was nine years old,” he said. “My family were farmers with cows, sheep and horses. We would sell the cheese to the cities to wholesalers. We aged the cheese in the sheep skin of the sheep we cattle. The skin goes through a process, and then you sew them as a sweater—and you put (the cheese) under the ground for three to four months for it to age. I took the animals to the hills so they would eat fresh grass, because I was a shepherd. I did this with my great-grandfather. There were five of us siblings together and our parents.”
When he was nine, Kazankaya moved to Istanbul and stayed there until he was 27. His father passed away when he was just 20, while he was serving in the army. “I made an oath to myself that I never wanted to have conflict again in my life,” he recalled. In a way, his devotion to serve through restaurants was his testament. “I came to America, didn’t speak any English, so I worked as a dishwasher in a French restaurant in the evening, and then in the daytime I went to adult school to learn English,” he said. “Then, a year later, I went to work as a line cook. And throughout my 30s I worked in an array of restaurants. In 2009, I opened my first restaurant in Hayes Valley.”
The smell of Turkish coffee fills the room as bartenders prepare for the 5pm start of dinner service. Kazankaya hopes Opelia will become a hallmark of life in Los Gatos. He says he’s had his eye on opening a business in town since 2004, but that it took two decades to find the perfect spot, with business partner Coskun Abik.
With the background of light rain falling on East Main Street, Kazankaya spotlights the community’s charm. “I like that Los Gatos is peaceful and quiet,” he said. “Everyone is nice here, and so far that I have been here I haven’t seen any trouble.” The theme of yearning for peace emerges, once again. “I was sitting outside of my place, and a girl asked if I worked here and took a picture of the restaurant. A few weeks later, her mother came and brought up her daughter’s photograph. These kinds of things—this is love.”
Kazankaya places his hand over his heart and smiles.
Open seven days a week: lunch and brunch 11am-2:30pm, dinner 5-10pm.
