The owner died yesterday of a heart attack while food shopping at a local grocer. Lokanta became a big part of Astoria's culture and he will be missed.
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@ PMN USA 2h ago
Regrettably unable to type my reply below your comment. Have to try it this way.
Your defense "of rustic cuisines where no part of a slaughtered animal was wasted" reads as if human taste and esthetic enjoyment of prepared dishes were aimed to serve the different foods, rather tha the other way around. I am one of those who abstain from the unappetizing organs of edible quadrupeds, and I do not eat pork for esthetic reasons, except as cured or smoked ham.
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@Tuvw Xyz
You "abstain from unappetizing organs"? A dish is "revolting to [you]"? How arrogant of you to so strongly denigrate something you have never tasted.
And how lucky for you that you live in a culture where so much edible -- and delicious, when cooked with respect and care -- food can be wasted. Perhaps if you had grown up in a place where thrift is practiced, your taste would have been trained differently. Because you would have eaten any and all parts of the animal, or gone hungry.
And I'm still puzzling over what "esthetic reasons" might allow you to abjure some central pig parts while the rear area of the animal is acceptable. Well, we all know that it is esthetically unpleasing to you to touch food and eat anything without a fork, so obviously ribs are out. But loin? What's up with that?
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How is a soup made from the head of a sentient being considered a "delight?" If it were a soup made from the head of a dog, people would be up in arms. Speciesism.
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By your standard, how is anything made with chicken considered good? Beef? Lamb? The parts of any animal? Either your objection is a general objection to to eating meat, or you find it objectionable to eat the head of an animal, but are fine with eating the other parts. That’s “organism.” You’re an organist.
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Do they serve Koç Yumurtası ("Ram's Eggs")? A special treat which I first had in Turkey over 50 years ago.
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My family and I were regulars at Sip Sak for years before moving to Southampton. His food is delicious indeed, and never to be compared to that of other Turkish restaurants: it's made with love and attention to tradition. His taramosalata is pure heaven and the best we've ever had. The stuffed cabbage reminds me of my grandmother's. The grilled calf's
liver cubes are addictive as well as his way with most vegetables especially artichokes, celery root and leeks.
As for Mr. Yegen, he can be offensive at times, especially with some inane questions. However, he's always very gracious and friendly with us and our guests and we only wish he would open a restaurant in the Hamptons instead of Astoria.
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Is there any point to Pete Wells' reviews? Everything gets two stars (I would be genuinely curious to know the percentage of two star reviews under his tenure). We actually call him "the deuce" in our home.
I would add: his review of TAK last week was just unfair. If Mr. Wells didn't think the food was up to par, that's totally valid. But to start the review with his impression of the social-cultural attitude of the restaurant (no matter how on point it was) displayed a bias that immediately invalidated the rest. All of this is to say: in my opinion it's time for Mr. Wells to go. He is a talented writer - of this there's no doubt. But food criticism - for those of us who value it - is a different skill, and I'm fairly certain that a paper as highly regarded as the NYT can and should do better on this front.
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@JJ
With respect, Pete Wells is not a food critic. He is the Times' restaurant critic. And, in my household, he is a reliable and perceptive guide, and a great writer. We can't get to every restaurant he critiques. But we get to many, and we are never sorry.
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@JJ If you go directly to the stars you're missing the whole point of the review.
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Good review!
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@AJ. That's That's what I came here to say. Funny, personal and the food descriptions were well written. Now I'm hungry for Turkish food.
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2 observations.
1. There's a savvy reason why this review starts with the Sheep's Head Soup, and so many of you fall for it. Well played, Mr. Wells.
2. Sheep, calf and pig head preparations are some of the classic dishes of European cookery (not to mention is many other parts of the world.) This is certainly true in French and Italian cuisines. Even in Paris, it's not so difficult to get good preparations of tête de veau -- really quite excellent, in fact. People should get out more.
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@tpe64
Your first observation is a curious one, and not at all clear.
The thing most of us fall for is Pete's byline at the top of the review.
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The review goes on an endlessly on about sheep head soup, never actually says if it's good or not, then doesn't list it as a recommended dish, but does list hot yogurt soup, which it doesn't even mention.
No stars for this review.
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If you didn’t surmise that the soup was great and Pete thoroughly enjoyed it well you don’t know the beauty of a Pete review
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I grew up in Istanbul and travel to Turkey frequently (I own a travel agency that specializes in Turkey); Turkish cuisine is one of the finest in the world and my clients always come back amazed. I am a vegetarian and Turkey is paradise for me with all of the different options; just no sheep's head soup for me - but pass the borek please!
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My chef friend and I made Sheep's head stew in his mini backyard in San Francisco -- The neighbors saw the head and called 911 ... After explaining we were accomplished chefs and not Satan worshipers - we found out the neighbor's complaint had to do with them being vegan and they were "panic stricken" when they saw a sheep's head entering the pot.
Only in SF!
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@Aaron
Love it: "accomplished chefs and not Satan worshippers"!
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I have to say First time in New York , I ate a Turkish food as authentic as in Istanbul.
Last 20 years many Turkish restaurants and their food usually the level of satisfactory (or OK).
Mr. Yegen's dishes reminds me original home made mother cooking.
Absolutely delicious.
The only negative so far : Lahmacun is not available always.
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I live in Astoria and was very excited to visit this new addition to our roster of good restaurants.
So this past Sunday six of us went for dinner I agree with Mr. Wells about the food the sound is far from acceptable.
However the wait staff and the owner are very arrogant and we told them so, but they were not listening.
One example I asked for a new paper napkin and the hostess pointed to the one in my lap saying I had one.
With this attitude in our very warm and caring community of restaurateurs who love to get to know their patrons, I don't see a very long future.
Sorry
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Mr. Yegen has apparently offended many food writers, as he has been the subject of much disdainful writing. I met him once, when he, briefly, had a Turkish restaurant in the East Village, and he was both charming and modest.
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For the most part, this restaurant sounds delicious and different (for me). But the sheep's head soup description is very unappetizing. I realize I don't have to order it, and I won't. Ropy bits formerly affixed to a sheep's skull is not my thing.
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@Rls - Don't knock it until you've tried it. The muscles of the scalp and face (and other muscles used in the soup, such as the tongue) are biologically no different from the other cuts of meat commonly consumed. In French and Italian cuisine, "Head cheese" is made from the muscles (and gelatin) of pig head, Italians use cheek in the preserved meat guanciale; tongue is used in a vast variety of cuisines. (Once the skin is removed and the meat sliced, you'd have a hard time telling tongue from brisket when served on a plate.)
The use of the head (and offal such as tripe, spleen and lung) is a characteristic of rustic cuisines where no part of a slaughtered animal was wasted. (Modern industry does the same thing, using these parts in sausage/hot dogs - recalling Bismarck's quote that people who love sausages and the law should not see either one being made.)
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@PMN my objection was more to the description of the soup than the actual ingredients.
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@ Rls NYC
In my opinion, the food is much less than appetizing. The description of a sheep head soup resembles (revolting, to me) a pig head dish served at a dinner in "Three Muskeeters".
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