Murat Kaçmaz has been in the tantuni business since 1999 and treats his customers as friends at Kadikoy Tantuni in Istanbul.
I’m 28. I’ve been in the tantuni business since 1999, and I’ve been a chef for the last 7 years.
I always talk to my customers, so there is no distance between us. At Kadikoy Tantuni I treat them as friends, and that’s why the work is always fun. But the most interesting moment came from a mistake I made while cooking: instead of oil, I accidentally put some juice in the tantuni and didn’t even realize it.
After I served it, the customers understood my mistake, but they ignored it because we are like friends with our customers, and they just wanted to be kind. I can’t forget their faces while they were eating.
When I was a child, I used to work part time. Tantuni was my favorite food, so I spent almost all the money I earned on eating tantuni. Then I started working in a tantuni restaurant, and from then until now it has been my only business.
I like traditional Turkish food and fish. Fishing and taking pictures are my hobbies, but unfortunately I’m very busy with my business, so I don’t have much time for them. I wish the readers of Food & Chef all the best food.
I chose this dish first of all because I like it. And although tantuni is a traditional food, you can’t find and taste it whenever or wherever you want: apart from southern Turkey, there are few tantuni restaurants in the country. That’s why this dish is in demand. It is a mixture of specially cooked meat with tomato, onion, and parsley, wrapped in warm lavash or bread.
