|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
What started as popular weekend pop-up dinners by two friends in the tech industry evolved into the May opening of the third Meyhouse restaurant in San Ramon.
Known for authentic meze shared plates, seafood, and fire-grilled meats, the first Meyhouse opened in Sunnyvale in 2019 and four years later in Palo Alto.
“Many of our customers on the Peninsula are from the East Bay,” said co-owner Koray Altinsoy. “They always asked when we would open here. This is our first Meyhouse in a shopping mall. City Center Bishop Ranch, close to I-680 with plentiful parking, is ideal for those who like our concept.”
Overseeing the Meyhouse Restaurant Group are owners Altinsoy and Omer Artun. This year the duo added Meze & Kebab in Palo Alto to their portfolio. The former chef of the neighborhood pop-ups, Artun is Executive Chef of the restaurants. Artun encouraged adding jazz to the Meyhouse brand. The backroom of Meyhouse San Ramon is a state-of-the-art music venue integrated with the restaurant.
“At a time where everything is centered on AI, Meyhouse is more than a restaurant, we are cultural gathering place where we feature jazz, classical, and other music plus authentic Turkish food and drinks,” said Artun.
The Meyhouse combination of entertainment and gourmet fare attracted local dignitaries to the Grand Opening. “The last music venue in San Ramon was The Outpost,” said Terry Koehe, Chairman of the Board of the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce. Closed since 2017, The Outpost was a sports bar with frequent DJ’s and live bands.
“We named the restaurants Meyhouse after the Turkish word “meyhane” meaning wine house,” said Artun. Meyhane is a little bistro where you share wine, food, and stories.”
Artun’s Silicon Valley neighbor and friend Bülent Kurdi told me that Artun is serious about his food. “When Omer organized pop-ups, said Kurdi, “we brought our friends together and in a way, recreated our village back home in Türkiye (the official name of Turkey).” He added that Artun brought a yogurt starter from Türkiye and has kept it alive for years.
Another of Artun’s interests manifests in the decorative elements at Meyhouse. While Artun studied Physics and Computational Neuroscience for his PhD at Brown University in Providence, R.I., he also studied ceramic arts at the Rhode Island School of Design.
The restaurant’s ground floor and corner location brings an abundance of light during the day, and the Artun-designed, hand-glazed ceramic pendants hanging from an overhead canopy reflect the UV light. The blue and green color scheme evokes the seas surrounding Türkiye. Artun also crafted the large fish behind the bar. To top it off, Artun also made the light fixtures and shades.
Though yogurt is popular around the world, the word “yogurt” derives from the Turkish word yoğurmak, meaning “to knead” or “to thicken.” With Artun’s handcrafted version, Meyhouse yogurt and labneh, which is thickened yogurt, is packed with fresh flavor compared to commercial brands.
At the Grand Opening, Artun spoke of serving real Turkish food. That sounded nice, but after scanning the menu later, some clues clarified Artun’s mission to using Turkish culinary techniques and ingredients. As an example, the word “Antep” is repeatedly linked to “pistachio” throughout the menu. Antep is the ancient name of a town in Southeastern Türkiye famous for their small, bright green pistachios prized for their flavor and color in recipes and garnishes.
Chef “Ozi” Ozel told me the oven roasted eggplant and pepper meze with tomato sauce over the homemade garlic-inflected, strained yogurt (labneh) served with homemade bread is the most popular meze. “It’s like how Mama made it,” said Ozel who was born in Ankara, attended a culinary academy in Turkey before gaining experience at Meyhouse Palo Alto for this assignment.
Other popular starters include Turkmen Manti, steamed Turkmen dumplings over garlic yogurt and mesquite fire-grilled Galician octopus over Gambilya fava. The Spanish octopus, said my friend, were delicate and grilled to perfection. I liked the chubby, fresh artichoke bottoms braised in olive oil with shrimp and herb dressing; a vegetarian version with “double-peeled” fava beans is also available.
Among the entrees menued under the “Turkish Style Mesquite Fire Charcoal and Stone Heart [sic] Oven” section, Lokum, fork-tenderprime tenderloin slices, is the star. The lamb chop was also a treat with mint-pistachio spread. Since we ordered the “Little Little in the Middle (Chef’s Tasting Menu) option, we had only one hearty lamb chop—and an opportunity to taste many Turkish flavors.
We also shared the Chilean seabass. The generous portion of tender, fresh fish held savory and slightly sweet flavors from the “Byzantine Murri Glaze” featuring an ancient, fermented sauce used in Arab and Byzantine food. Meyhouse also menus whole Branzino.
Desserts range from homemade ice cream with rotating Turkish flavors such as sour cherry and pistachio to Künefe, a pan-seared phyllo dough with fresh mozzarella filling, baklava, and rice pudding with just enough sweetness.
A highlight of the beverage list are “Ancient Wine World—The First Pour” with selections from Türkiye, Israel, Armenia, and Georgia, which is considered the birthplace of wine. A fine red wine, Gürbüz Kalecik Karasi, reminded me of a well-made Pinot Noir. The list also covers Calif, Europe, and more.
Craft cocktails include an array of creative classic drinks such as the Bodrum Fashion, a Turkish take on Old Fashioned. Turkey’s national spirit is Raki that is distilled with anise spice. Though not fond of the licorice notes in anise, I discovered the Raki Rollie cocktail made with Turkish raki is a well-balanced and fun, green drink. The spirits list has broad appeal from gin to tequila, Cognac to Scotch.
The Meyhouse Jazz website lists the weekend schedules and ticket information; food and drink are not included. The early show seats at 5:00 p.m. enabling dinner before the 6:30 performance. For the 8:00 p.m. seating, the show starts at 8:30 p.m. A diverse set of renown musicians play smooth and classic jazz or artist tributes. Upcoming shows include A Night of Legends in NOLA jazz and John R. Burr presenting Billy Joel Reimagined.
Whether a laid-back, late jazz evening with a Meyhouse Espresso Martini or a full-on meal with lokum or a special kebab feast for four people, the choices at Meyhouse deliver Turkish culture to the Tri-Valley.
