TURKISH DELIGHTS

Aisling O’Leary heads to Turkey’s intriguing Urla on the Aegean coast to find out how one region’s farm-to-table dining and fresh produce philosophy has won Michelin stars

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Women peel tomatoes under early morning sunshine in a large walled courtyard that resembles The Mad Hatter’s tea party. Beds, baths, lamps and mirrors are strewn around a smattering of dining tables, conservatories, piles of vintage dinnerware and crates of vegetables.

The temperature is in the early thirties, the focus at restaurant Asma Yaprağı is on the tomatoes – it’s coming to the end of the season so they are being peeled, chopped and simmered into endless jars of sauce.

This more organic view of Turkey is a far cry from what the country is largely known for: the kebab. While that is changing, it’s hard to remove the imprint of a satisfying juicy doner after a night out. Which was why I was intrigued to visit Izmir, and more specifically, Urla, a region less than an hour’s drive west of the city of Izmir and one that is quietly getting a name for itself as the country’s rising gastronomic star. Since 2023, when the Michelin guide decided to extend its coverage beyond Istanbul, seven restaurants in this community got a mention while three went on to get stars.

Ayşe Nur Mıhcı, the co-founder of Asma Yaprağı (located a half hour’s drive from Urla in Alacati) and holder of a green Michelin star for the restaurant’s sustainable practices, proudly serves a variety of dishes for a traditional Turkish breakfast.

Plates of homemade spicy tomato sauce, salted cows’ cheese with mulberry jam, kaymak with honey, all to be mopped up with