Smyrna Boldly Celebrates Aegean Cuisine


We must begin with the meze trio. Usually, I aim to find a menu’s hidden gems, but on an evening with friends at Smyrna in Charlottesville, the path extends clearly before me, and the first step is Chef Tarik Sengul’s holy trinity—impossibly soft, luscious hummus; a smoky charred eggplant smothered in garlic confit; and tangy yogurt cheese doused in olive oil—likely the most oft-ordered dish on the menu.

As we settle into our cozy four-top, making a perfect triangle with the lively bar and busy open kitchen, we contemplate Sengul’s deceptively simple meze. It abates our 6 p.m.
hunger as we order more bread and pore over the rest of the menu.

With the table divided evenly among vegetarians and omnivores, our party leans more towards the menu’s vegetarian offerings. Too often, vegetarian dishes can feel like an afterthought, but Smyrna makes a strong showing with their vegetable turlu—a traditional seasonal Turkish stew. Here, it’s anchored by cabbage stuffed with freekeh (a nutty, earthy cracked wheat similar to bulgur) and dressed up with zephyr squash and mushrooms, but the strength of the dish is its versatility. It can adapt to showcase whatever vegetable happens to be at its best that week, allowing the kitchen’s devotion to seasonality to shine.

But the menu’s crowning achievement—Smyrna’s signature dish—are the manti dumplings, tiny, hand-crafted pillows of supple dough encasing Sharondale mushrooms, seasoned with zesty dehydrated tomato and piled on a blanket of garlicky yogurt. It’s the dish in which Sengul seems to be saying that he’s ready to define the food of his childhood on his own terms.

In his gazpacho, another menu staple, Sengul deftly balances sweet-tart cherries and tomatoes in an unexpected way that works extremely well. The chilled soup is spiked with a hint of fresno chilies and given a pop of cream by way of Caromont Farm goat cheese, with a palate-smoothing glug of olive oil to finish.

Sengul says Smyrna’s menu is a reflection of his cooking career, and the emphasis on plant-based dishes is by design: “I love vegetables, and it is one of my visions for the future to have a more vegetable-focused cuisine.”

Executive chef Tarik Sengul and his right-hand man, general manager Orhun Dikmen, opened Smyrna in 2022. Photography by Anna Kariel

The Turkish-born chef came to Charlottesville from New York with a singular goal—to open a restaurant with his friend and fellow Turkey native, Orhun Dikmen. The Dikmen name was already familiar among fans of another Charlottesville spot, Sultan Kebab, which has enjoyed rave reviews since opening in 2012. Dikmen left New York, where he met and worked with Sengul, to work at Sultan with his brother, Deniz Dikmen. After hearing his friend rave about the hospitable city for years, Sengul was convinced to join him there, and in 2022 the duo set out to open a restaurant celebrating the flavors of Turkey and the classical technique Sengul refined over eight years of cooking under chefs like Tom Colicchio and Christophe Bellanca at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

Just as the ancient city of Smyrna was a point on trade routes connecting the Anatolian mountains and the Aegean Sea, Charlottesville’s Smyrna connects the seafood of the Chesapeake Bay and beyond with the foraged and farmed wonders of the Southwest Mountains of Virginia in dishes like the charred octopus, in which Sengul plates a curled, grilled octopus tentacle with şalgam, a take on a traditional Turkish drink reimagined as a sauce, made with fermented purple carrots. 

Playing on the Turkish culinary tradition known as raki balik, in which freshly caught fish is enjoyed with a glass of bracing raki, Turkey’s signature spirit, Sengul has created a supple hamachi crudo with thinly shaved fennel echoing raki’s anisette flavors, brightened with meyer lemon and balanced with a hint of sweetness from compressed melon, a nod to the custom of using cold melon to cool raki’s throat-scorching effects.

If the crudo ignites your appetite for raki, you’ll find two offerings of the anise-flavored brandy meant for after the meal, or take a page from the Turkish playbook and order a chilled glass with the nightly fish special. 

Smyrna’s manti, a traditional Turkish pasta dish, is filled with Sharondale mushrooms and served with dehydrated tomato, garlic yogurt, and a pepper-butter sauce.

Nods to Turkish customs abound on the menu, including in the selection of skewers, which recall grill-centric Turkish cafés, where guests are fed skewers straight from the fire. Smyrna’s chicken skewer pairs charred but tender chicken with a bright and zesty romesco sauce, and the must-order lamb skewers are served with fluffy lavash flatbread and creamy yogurt, with pickled fennel to cut through the rich flavors.

If the ribeye for two feels like a departure from the rest of the menu, this is where Sengul flexes those classical skills he accumulated during his formative New York years. The expertly prepared ribeye is served with pommes dauphine—a complicated French preparation for an otherwise humble potato— and a plate of seared little gem lettuce with a rich and savory au jus that demands you drag a potato through it.

Though the beginning of the meal feels preordained, the end of the journey is less mapped out. Instead, the Epilogue menu has a choose-your-own adventure approach to your last moments, whether you’re craving a Portuguese dessert wine, a glass of amaro, or a plated dessert. For guests looking for something rich and luxurious, the move is the baklava cheesecake, which combines flaky, buttery phyllo with warm spices encasing a slab of creamy cheesecake and liberally sprinkled with bright green pistachios. If a light, sweet kiss goodnight is more your style, opt for the satisfyingly cool granita with fresh berries and whimsical candy floss topping. 

Raki-balik, named for the Turkish tradition of pairing freshly caught fish and Turkey’s signature spirit, served with raw hamachi crudo, anise compressed melon, fennel, and meyer lemon.

This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue.

Stephanie Ganz
Stephanie Ganz has cooked professionally and she’s always been obsessed with food. Based in Richmond, her work has appeared in The Local Palate, Eater, and Bon Appetit.
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