Venues of Rosemary Brasseries in Alaçatı and inside Ege Park attract a wide variety of clientele and offer a superior dining experience while also creating a relaxed social hub
 Rosemary Alaçatı |
Volkan Piyale is a well-known west coast restaurateur whose success has become somewhat of a prince’s tale in his hometown of İzmir.
Even though Piyale’s success is renowned in İzmir, he didn’t study restaurant management at university; instead he started out at the tender age of 17 as a steward in a local five-star hotel.
He knew from the very beginning that in order to succeed within the restaurant industry, he’d have to rely on hands-on experience and a dogged work ethic as his primary skill. After spending several years determinedly working his way across Turkey, he returned to İzmir in 2003 with the sole purpose of realizing his dream: operating his own restaurant. He took it upon himself to focus his entire attention on the restaurant and bar business, and today his success is proven by the two first-class eateries he has created.
Rosemary Brasserie – from conception to birth
Piyale’s CV reads like a Turkish top 10 of fine dining experiences, having worked for some of the most popular eateries in Turkey’s finest upper-class tourist resorts. He spent 13 months at the Grand Plaza in İzmir learning basic service skills before moving on to Edremit and then Bodrum.
In 1993 Piyale put his career on hold while he completed his military service. He moved to Kuşadası 19 months later where he spent four years honing his skills in service management. He ensured that each time he changed jobs he was moving closer to his goal, by climbing another rung of the challenging career ladder. By the year 2000, Piyale had gained a remarkable reputation in the bar and restaurant trade and was offered an opportunity working in one of Turkey’s most classy west coast resorts, Çeşme, a thriving upper-class resort town that attracts thousands of Turkish tourists every summer. The resort is located on the western tip of the Çeşme/İzmir peninsula, overlooking the picturesque Greek island of Chios.
Çeşme is renowned for an abundant beach club culture dotted along its sandy coastline. It was at one of the beach entertainment facilities that Piyale received his first big break as food and beverage manager. He used the opportunities in Çeşme to network with İzmir’s elite.
In 2003 Piyale happily returned to İzmir with a respectable amount of experience. For the next few years Piyale managed the well-known Homestore restaurant and bar, one of Turkey’s most popular luxury chain department stores. The Homestore café situated in Konak Pier central İzmir provided Piyale’s first complete management experience. While working at the location, his long-term dream of owning his restaurant resurfaced and reinvigorated his drive to fulfill his ambition.
He said ideas began to form in his mind and during his time at Homestore, he discovered the perfect name for his new enterprise, Rosemary.
“The Konak pier Homestore overlooks the bay of İzmir, so it can become quite windy. One evening a waiter was carrying a main course steak dish to a table located near the pier edge and a gust of wind blew the decorative piece of Rosemary off the steak and it landed on my shoe. Of course, initially I was annoyed but as I stared at the Rosemary the name and concept became entrenched. Later when I returned home I checked via the Internet whether there were any restaurants of this name and I could not find any. I decided then that the name for my restaurant would be Rosemary,” he said.
Piyale opened two restaurants during 2008-2009, both named Rosemary. The first of Piyale’s Rosemary Brasseries operates in the latest Balçova shopping center, Ege Park. Rosemary is located on the first floor, on the outer rim of the upper terrace food court overlooking İzmir Bay.
It is an unusual location for such a fine dining venue, but it provides great views and attracts a wide variety of clientele, Piyale said.
“My plan is to offer a superior dining experience but also to create a relaxed social hub, somewhere you can enjoy excellent cuisine in comfortable surroundings,” he said.
His success with this concept came when he hired a private interior designer who transformed the simple space into a classy lounge area, incorporating modern and classical design features. The restaurant has the capacity to seat upward of 100 people and employs a total of 25 personnel during the busy summer season.
The second of the Rosemary restaurants is located in the summer resort of Alaçatı. The Alaçatı Rosemary is situated along the main shopping and dining street – a picturesque cobbled pedestrian road that winds through the old Greek houses, most of which have been converted into luxury bars or quaint designer boutiques.
“İzmir is my hometown so I begun realizing my dream there, but Alaçatı (near Çeşme) has fantastic business opportunities and is only 30 minutes drive from Balçova. It made sense to open both in relatively quick succession,” Piyale said.
The restaurateur said he was very content with his success; his team also provides a great deal of pride.
“I worked together with many of the current members of the Rosemary team in previous venues. Some members I’ve known for many years so I knew their experience and capabilities and work ethic. The chef is a great benefit. He originates from Mengen, Bolu, which is a district famous in Turkey for producing excellent chefs. He is 28 years old but began cooking at the age of 14. He’s a very talented chef, but also has a notable regard for hygiene. We have a total of five staff working in the kitchen,” he said.
Piyale was involved in the design of some of the restaurant’s features, and the large glass wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room was one of his ideas.
“I wanted to convince our patrons of the high standard of quality and hygiene, this vast window allows the customers to see the professionalism of our staff and the cleanliness of our workspace. Along with this the window draws your attention to other details, creating an interesting feature wall which adds to the overall ambience,” he said.
The Rosemary Café offers seasonal programs and live entertainment during the weekends. For advance bookings or more information, call 0 232 279 19 41 Balçova, or 0232 716 70 75 for the Alaçatı venue. Email at info@rosemarycafe.net
Inspired by Italian cuisine
The menu at Rosemary was designed by the chef with collaboration from owner Volkan Piyale.
Much of the menu is inspired by Italian cuisine and there’s a large selection of pizzas, steaks and pastas on offer.
After an order is placed, the table is set and the waiter serves a platter of herb infused olive oils with an ample selection of handmade mini bread rolls. Piyale’s favorite dish is the Bistecca Risotto – a Tenderloin steak roasted with eggplant served with risotto and porcine sauce. Children are also well catered for and the menu includes a rich and diverse selection of child-friendly meals.
The Rosemary café is suitable for all occasions, offering a relaxed fine dining experience in the center of the Balçova entertainment and shopping district.
Attention is in the details
The chef of İzmir’s Rosemary restaurant has many culinary talents, not least are his homemade fettuccini and traditional thin-crust Italian pizza. The restaurant benefits from a large authentic wood oven, perfect for creating tasty pizzas and bread rolls. Owner Volkan Piyale strives to ensure the somewhat-public location of the Ege Park food court does not encroach on the relaxing ambience of the Rosemary Café.
The interior designer has created a space which is successfully separated from the shopping center outside by screening the windows with reflective modern art and closing the terrace with a pergola and shrubbery. The entrance is grand and welcoming and the restroom are second to none, completing the overall, high-quality effect.
Even though Piyale’s success is renowned in İzmir, he didn’t study restaurant management at university; instead he started out at the tender age of 17 as a steward in a local five-star hotel.
He knew from the very beginning that in order to succeed within the restaurant industry, he’d have to rely on hands-on experience and a dogged work ethic as his primary skill. After spending several years determinedly working his way across Turkey, he returned to İzmir in 2003 with the sole purpose of realizing his dream: operating his own restaurant. He took it upon himself to focus his entire attention on the restaurant and bar business, and today his success is proven by the two first-class eateries he has created.
Rosemary Brasserie – from conception to birth
Piyale’s CV reads like a Turkish top 10 of fine dining experiences, having worked for some of the most popular eateries in Turkey’s finest upper-class tourist resorts. He spent 13 months at the Grand Plaza in İzmir learning basic service skills before moving on to Edremit and then Bodrum.
In 1993 Piyale put his career on hold while he completed his military service. He moved to Kuşadası 19 months later where he spent four years honing his skills in service management. He ensured that each time he changed jobs he was moving closer to his goal, by climbing another rung of the challenging career ladder. By the year 2000, Piyale had gained a remarkable reputation in the bar and restaurant trade and was offered an opportunity working in one of Turkey’s most classy west coast resorts, Çeşme, a thriving upper-class resort town that attracts thousands of Turkish tourists every summer. The resort is located on the western tip of the Çeşme/İzmir peninsula, overlooking the picturesque Greek island of Chios.
Çeşme is renowned for an abundant beach club culture dotted along its sandy coastline. It was at one of the beach entertainment facilities that Piyale received his first big break as food and beverage manager. He used the opportunities in Çeşme to network with İzmir’s elite.
In 2003 Piyale happily returned to İzmir with a respectable amount of experience. For the next few years Piyale managed the well-known Homestore restaurant and bar, one of Turkey’s most popular luxury chain department stores. The Homestore café situated in Konak Pier central İzmir provided Piyale’s first complete management experience. While working at the location, his long-term dream of owning his restaurant resurfaced and reinvigorated his drive to fulfill his ambition.
He said ideas began to form in his mind and during his time at Homestore, he discovered the perfect name for his new enterprise, Rosemary.
“The Konak pier Homestore overlooks the bay of İzmir, so it can become quite windy. One evening a waiter was carrying a main course steak dish to a table located near the pier edge and a gust of wind blew the decorative piece of Rosemary off the steak and it landed on my shoe. Of course, initially I was annoyed but as I stared at the Rosemary the name and concept became entrenched. Later when I returned home I checked via the Internet whether there were any restaurants of this name and I could not find any. I decided then that the name for my restaurant would be Rosemary,” he said.
Piyale opened two restaurants during 2008-2009, both named Rosemary. The first of Piyale’s Rosemary Brasseries operates in the latest Balçova shopping center, Ege Park. Rosemary is located on the first floor, on the outer rim of the upper terrace food court overlooking İzmir Bay.
It is an unusual location for such a fine dining venue, but it provides great views and attracts a wide variety of clientele, Piyale said.
“My plan is to offer a superior dining experience but also to create a relaxed social hub, somewhere you can enjoy excellent cuisine in comfortable surroundings,” he said.
His success with this concept came when he hired a private interior designer who transformed the simple space into a classy lounge area, incorporating modern and classical design features. The restaurant has the capacity to seat upward of 100 people and employs a total of 25 personnel during the busy summer season.
The second of the Rosemary restaurants is located in the summer resort of Alaçatı. The Alaçatı Rosemary is situated along the main shopping and dining street – a picturesque cobbled pedestrian road that winds through the old Greek houses, most of which have been converted into luxury bars or quaint designer boutiques.
“İzmir is my hometown so I begun realizing my dream there, but Alaçatı (near Çeşme) has fantastic business opportunities and is only 30 minutes drive from Balçova. It made sense to open both in relatively quick succession,” Piyale said.
The restaurateur said he was very content with his success; his team also provides a great deal of pride.
“I worked together with many of the current members of the Rosemary team in previous venues. Some members I’ve known for many years so I knew their experience and capabilities and work ethic. The chef is a great benefit. He originates from Mengen, Bolu, which is a district famous in Turkey for producing excellent chefs. He is 28 years old but began cooking at the age of 14. He’s a very talented chef, but also has a notable regard for hygiene. We have a total of five staff working in the kitchen,” he said.
Piyale was involved in the design of some of the restaurant’s features, and the large glass wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room was one of his ideas.
“I wanted to convince our patrons of the high standard of quality and hygiene, this vast window allows the customers to see the professionalism of our staff and the cleanliness of our workspace. Along with this the window draws your attention to other details, creating an interesting feature wall which adds to the overall ambience,” he said.
The Rosemary Café offers seasonal programs and live entertainment during the weekends. For advance bookings or more information, call 0 232 279 19 41 Balçova, or 0232 716 70 75 for the Alaçatı venue. Email at info@rosemarycafe.net
Inspired by Italian cuisine
The menu at Rosemary was designed by the chef with collaboration from owner Volkan Piyale.
Much of the menu is inspired by Italian cuisine and there’s a large selection of pizzas, steaks and pastas on offer.
After an order is placed, the table is set and the waiter serves a platter of herb infused olive oils with an ample selection of handmade mini bread rolls. Piyale’s favorite dish is the Bistecca Risotto – a Tenderloin steak roasted with eggplant served with risotto and porcine sauce. Children are also well catered for and the menu includes a rich and diverse selection of child-friendly meals.
The Rosemary café is suitable for all occasions, offering a relaxed fine dining experience in the center of the Balçova entertainment and shopping district.
Attention is in the details
The chef of İzmir’s Rosemary restaurant has many culinary talents, not least are his homemade fettuccini and traditional thin-crust Italian pizza. The restaurant benefits from a large authentic wood oven, perfect for creating tasty pizzas and bread rolls. Owner Volkan Piyale strives to ensure the somewhat-public location of the Ege Park food court does not encroach on the relaxing ambience of the Rosemary Café.
The interior designer has created a space which is successfully separated from the shopping center outside by screening the windows with reflective modern art and closing the terrace with a pergola and shrubbery. The entrance is grand and welcoming and the restroom are second to none, completing the overall, high-quality effect.
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