Ethnic City - Ethnic.city: The Sivas Grill, Hookah and Bar

It’s nearly impossible to brand a restaurant as exclusively Turkish. The food shares Mediterranean, Central Asian, and Balkan origins, and it is arguably one of the world’s earliest examples of fusion cuisine.

Sivas in Midtown, which opened in January 2014, serves Turkish staples as well as contemporary takes on traditional Turkish cuisine. Originally named “Cafe Mezo,” the restaurant changed monikers in late September on the heels of a lawsuit brought on by long-standing Midtown restaurant Cafe Intermezzo. The name, Sivas, is a nod to the city in central Turkey from where owner Kemal Karsli’s family hails.

Karsli owns the restaurant with his brother-in-law Okan. The two successfully ran a restaurant back in Turkey before the family relocated to Atlanta in the aughts. After redesigning and renovating the space that formerly housed the Fifth Ivory piano bar in Midtown and the Greek eatery Avra before that, the Karslis opened in the restaurant in January 2014.

From the curb, Sivas looks like a historic Victorian house at the intersection of Juniper and 5th Street. Black and white mosaic tiles on the patio lead into a small foyer decorated with dozens of Turkish evil eye charms. A long dark wood bar with ambient blue ceilings resembles a modern lounge along the Mediterranean coast. Seating is scattered around the bar, hookah room, upstairs, and at the patio, allowing the diners to chose a location based on the mood and occasion.

When socializing at a restaurant in Turkey, people prefer to eat meze, or tapas style small plates, sharing dishes and making conversation extending over a few hours. Even at parties, a variety of meze made with eggplants, carrots, beef, and lentils, along with freshly baked flatbread, is served even before the main course arrives.

A staple starter to every Turkish meal is lentil loup ($5). Made with red lentils, onions, tomatoes, fresh mint, and a hint of lemon juice, the light and refreshing soup recipe varies at every household. From the cold meze section, best bets are shakshouka ($6), small chunky eggplant pieces sautéed with lots of garlic, olive oil, and red bell peppers, then served cold in a sweet tomato broth. The thicker version of yogurt dip, haydari ($6) mixed with dill, parsley, and mint, is a healthy choice for dipping bread. Pepper lovers will enjoy ezme ($6), ground tomato and pepper dip with walnuts, giving it a crunchy texture. Havuc salatas ($5), a sweet and savory shredded carrot salad with a creamy texture from yogurt, is one of the most popular dishes on the menu. All appetizers can be used as toppings with the warm bread called ekmek that is baked at Sivas’ kitchen daily.

Hot meze includes Turkish cheese roll called sigara boregi ($6), which consists of three cigar shaped pastries stuffed with bits of feta cheese mixed with herbs.

It’s common to see people enjoying a lunch special of Turkish pizza and a chilled glass of Ayran ($3), a non-alcoholic drink similar to Indian lassi made with water, yogurt, and salt drink. Sivas also serves personal size Turkish pizzettes, topped with ground beef, onion, tomatoes, and parsley.

On the kebab front, Sivas serves lamb, beef, and chicken shish kebabs that are tenderly marinated in paprika, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and Turkish spices. The Sivas kebab entrée ($16) is the signature house platter. Boneless grilled pieces of lamb and beef are presented on a two-foot-long wooden plank and served with thin sheets of pita and a light bulgur rice. Cooling tzatziki, a sauce made with yogurt, diced cucumbers, fresh dill, dried oregano, and mint, pairs well on the side for dipping the meat. All kebabs at Sivas also come with a side of fresh Greek salad. Moussaka ($14) made of grilled vegetables, sweet tomatoes, and cheesy béchamel makes for a hearty vegetarian meal.

Gyro is derived from the Turkish doner kebab, which consists of shaved fatty slices of lamb sliced from a rotating vertical rotisserie. In Bursa, Turkey, where this dish is believed to have originated, chicken gyros are rarely available, as lamb and beef are better apt to this method of cooking. At Sivas, sliced gyro meat can be ordered as an entrée-sized gyro kebab ($14) or wrap ($12).

Choice of dessert is limited to baklava ($4.50), a flaky pastry made with phyllo, chopped walnuts, and sugar syrup. Kunefe ($6) a traditional pastry prepared only by expert Turkish chefs. It is shredded wheat and stringy Levantine cheese, baked in a copper bowl then dipped in honey and garnished with chopped pistachios. A strong shot of Turkish coffee ($3) served in a traditional cup, is the perfect ending to a scrumptious feast that has hopefully lasted several hours, if you had good company to go along.

A clear choice of beverage to wash down the rich meats and flavorful dips is raki, a strong, clear, anise-flavored spirit, similar to Greek ouzo and French pastis. Sivas also carries a wide selection of beer, wine, and spirits including Israeli red wine, Recanati Yasmin, and Turkish beer Efes. The restaurant features a Hookah and Bar Menu, which includes regular ($20), and large ($30) size, fruit-flavored tobaccos in Hookahs (known as Nargile in Turkey).

Karsli states on his website that he wants to, “share his culture and hospitality that is typical in Turkish culture; and allow his customers to know more about exactly where he comes from and what the restaurant stands for.” Between its traditional food offerings and weekend performances from belly dancers, Sivas does just that.