Abracadabra is as whimsical of a place as it gets. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall place that given its size and space you’d think would only serve coffee beverages and pastries. But no, it actually serves a whole slew of meals, each of which is created to be healthy and wholesome, yet very flavorful. You also would never expect that this place was owned by a renowned chef who operated several of the most successful, higher-end restaurants in Istanbul. She abandoned it all, moved to Brooklyn, and opened Abracadabra, the most unassuming of places that, from first glance, you’d assume was run by someone without much culinary experience.
The menu is written in colorful chalk near the counter where you order, the walls are adorned with random colorful art, trinkets, and things. There is a small bookshelf with a haphazard assortment of art, fashion, cooking, and other books. Colorful vases sit atop the rustic, mismatched wooden tables and chairs. This place is as eccentric as it gets. It’s often overlooked. But if it is noticed, then it’s usually quickly dismissed. And I can’t really blame someone for dismissing it. I may have done the same had I just stumbled upon it, unaware of the owner’s history and the café’s vision.
Dilara Erbay was one of the pioneers of new Turkish cuisine in Istanbul at a time when the city’s food scene was taking off. Her restaurant there, which bore the same name as this one, was the go to place for a lot of socialites and wealthy folk. Known for its cutting edge dishes, the restaurant was thought to be one of a handful paving the way for a culinary revolution in Istanbul. The menu would take traditional Turkish cuisine and switch it up, like making çiğ köfte with salmon tartare instead of the traditional beef or lamb the recipe calls for. And it also incorporated other ethnic influences, such as by taking the traditional imam bayıldı, a roasted eggplant dish, a serving it with an Indian mint masala.
But as the restaurant’s reputation grew, she became disenchanted and unhappy with the fact that the restaurant became better known for its scene and trendiness than the food itself. So she left, took some time off, and relocated to Brooklyn to open a restaurant that can essentially never even have a scene or cater to the elite. Abracadabra, in its current iteration, is self-dubbed as a “tasty, organic, gluten-free and vegan friendly” establishment. It has no full kitchen. There isn’t even ventilation, so most things are not cooked stove-top, but rather baked in the oven – including the meats. Despite that, the restaurant impressively offers everything you would need for a breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner. They serve full-blown entrees like magic plates served with wild rice, roasted vegetables, green hummus, salad, and a choice of protein (meat balls, lentil-quinoa balls, or chicken tikka) and the so-called Turkish Burritos, which bear physical resemblance to the traditional Mexican kind, but are made with more exotic ingredients and wrapped in lavash bread instead of a tortilla.
Then there are a ton of pastries, both savory and sweet, from the traditional Turkish böreks to the raw, organic, vegan goodies (in keeping with the health food theme, of course) like carrot cake made with coconut sugar, coconut oil, carob, flax seeds, and chia seeds. And there isn’t a fresh fruit juice or smoothie that isn’t offered! Take your pick of fruit and whatever add on you want (from spirulina to organic hemp protein) and invent a creation.
The food is really incredibly delicious – she knows what she’s doing after all. Unpretentious, fun cooking with high-quality ingredients, wholesome and healthy options, all while being incredibly flavorful. You feel great eating it. As an aside, I cannot endorse the vegan and gluten-free desserts. In my opinion, if you’re going to eat a cake, you need to eat a real cake and not one that is made with all kinds of non-dairy, non-wheat, low-fat substitutes. But hey, I know there’s a market out there for it. But I endorse most anything and everything else on the menu.
If you take a chance on this place, as you should, you will be so pleasantly surprised and endeared to it. It’s whimsical, charming, and will delight your stomach. It’s casual enough that you can keep going back and not really feel like you’re dining out – a great option if you want to pick something up casually on your way home. As an added bonus it’s also one of the healthiest take-out options you could ever get. But I’d really recommend sitting in the tiny little café and just taking in the eccentric and unique surroundings, even if just for a coffee and a fresh baked pastry. You’ll really enjoy it.
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