DAHA: One more!
Aylin Öney Tan
Antalya’s famous 7 Mehmet restaurant was the most talked-about spot this summer, but not in its hometown; instead, at its new location in Bodrum. With its unique location overlooking the Mediterranean, the iconic Antalya restaurant is almost synonymous with the city. Serving the locals for three generations, they chose to remain in their own fortress and did not tempt to move elsewhere. But sometimes, the temptation is hard to resist. Opened under the name DAHA at The Bodrum EDITION, 7 Mehmet Restaurant has once again embraced the Mediterranean — this time from the Aegean — becoming the place that defined the season.
Seasonal pilgrimage
Setting sail for new adventures is always a difficult decision. It’s especially hard and requires courage for establishments that are deeply rooted in their home turf, places that have become synonymous with the very places where they were born and grew, to decide to venture into new lands. The DAHA in Bodrum, opened by Antalya’s iconic brand 7 Mehmet, is the result of just such courage. It’s typical to see Istanbul establishments beloved by Istanbulites open summer locations in Bodrum. For years, the same phenomenon occurred on a smaller scale between İzmir and Çeşme; beloved pastry shops would invariably open summer locations in Çeşme. In a way, Istanbul has made Bodrum its own. Just as Istanbul offers endless opportunities for discovery on both sides of the Bosphorus, along the European and Asian shores, Bodrum — when viewed with the Bodrum Peninsula as its axis — offers a dizzying array of endless options on both sides of the northern and southern coasts, much like the Bosphorus itself. However, this summer’s discovery wasn’t a venue that came from Istanbul to a summer retreat; it was, in fact, a native of Antalya.
