Every evening begins with a menu.
But some menus don’t stay only on paper.
They turn into the spirit of that evening.
In Bayındır, Kaş, I prepared a special dinner for a family from England.
The villa was calm, facing the garden. There was no sea. Through the large windows, only trees and greenery could be seen.
But inside, there was a completely different warmth.
I felt that warmth the moment I walked through the door.
We had talked about the menu days in advance.
They had wanted it to be light, fresh and fitting for a summer evening.
And that is exactly the kind of menu I prepared:
Welcome Drink
Hibiscus tea brewed with rose, cinnamon, orange and clove.
Even its scent was soft.
Starters
Tomato carpaccio with fresh basil and olive oil.
Watermelon salad with mint, cheese and pomegranate molasses.
Green salad with seasonal fruit and a light citrus dressing.
Cold Mezzee
Rocket and lentil köfte.
Classic hummus with crispy pastırma.
Crispy peppers with garlic yoghurt.
Main Course
Oven-baked minced-meat stuffed zucchini boats.
Served with orzo pilaf with beetroot and caramelized onion.
Dessert
Pistachio semolina halva with vanilla ice cream.
When I arrived at the villa in the late afternoon, the kitchen was still empty.
As I laid out the ingredients on the counter, soft sounds came from the living room.
Then, slowly, the conversation began to rise.
Laughter, unfinished sentences, memories that began with “do you remember this?”…
All of it reached as far as the kitchen.
And I cooked slowly, without rushing.
It was as if I didn’t want to interrupt that conversation.
The knife tapping on the board, the gentle sizzling in the pan, the aroma spreading from the oven…
Everything had fallen into the rhythm of that evening.
At one point they came all the way to the kitchen and said “it smells wonderful.”
Then they smiled and returned to their own company.
I nodded and carried on with my work.
In that moment, I felt I wasn’t just cooking.
I understood that I had quietly become a guest, for one evening, among a family.
When I set the table, everyone took their place.
The plates came, the glasses were filled.
For the first few minutes only the sound of eating could be heard.
The sounds of cutlery, soft “mmm”s…
Then, slowly, the conversations began again.
This time softer, more heartfelt.
The meal had opened up space within the conversation.
When the meal was over, as I was clearing the dishes, their mother came all the way to the kitchen.
Without saying anything, she touched my shoulder.
She just said “thank you.”
But there was so much inside that “thank you.”
Tiredness, contentment, the beauty of an evening… All of it was inside those two words.
As I walked out the door, I looked back.
The living room light was still on.
The sounds had grown a little quieter, but they continued.
Some evenings you go to cook.
Other evenings you witness a family growing a little closer to one another.
That summer evening in Bayındır was the second kind.
From the kitchen, with love.
Melek
See also: Private Chef in Kaş & Kalkan · Behind the Scenes of a Private Dinner in Kaş · Private Chef at Your Villa in Kaş · Private Chef Kalkan – Breakfast & Lunch in a Villa