Inside Göğüş Mutfağı: reclaimed steel and the library

Five centuries of one kitchen · Gaziantep

The table is set only with the season's permission.

For five hundred years the Göğüş family has laid Gaziantep's wedding tables. Today the same kitchen stands across from the Panorama Museum — run entirely by women, cooking only what the season allows.

Call to reserve your table

01

The family table

Tables of 3–10. Share dishes that are cooked only a few weeks a year.

Book the table 02

For business people

Closed corners for one-to-ones; the upper floor for teams and client dinners.

See the options 03

The traveler's table

Directly across from the Panorama Museum. A table after the museum — or a workshop in the kitchen.

See the workshop

Chapter I · Heritage

Five hundred years, one kitchen

In the city's records the Göğüş name appears alongside its wedding tables. For five centuries the family kept no restaurant: it set its cauldrons in the courtyard of the house that invited it, cooked an entire neighbourhood's wedding, and withdrew the next morning. The craft passed not from father to son but from whoever stood at the cauldron to whoever stood beside them.

The first job I was given as a child was to watch the fire under the cauldron. Nobody recited a recipe; they said, “tell me when the smell changes.” That is how I learned a five-hundred-year-old kitchen — not by words, by waiting.

When I opened this room I had one rule: we do not imitate what we do not have. When the broad beans are finished, they leave the menu. It is hard to explain to a guest — but after one taste, no one asks.

500+

years of table reputation

100%

woman-owned and woman-run

4

seasons, four different kitchens

Family archive · four generations

Swipe to browse →

Family archive: the Göğüş family at a wedding — I · The cauldron in the courtyard

Family archive: copper cauldrons — II · Copper cauldrons and trays

Family archive: a wedding table for a whole neighbourhood — III · A whole neighbourhood's wedding table

The executive chef in the kitchen today — IV · Today: same measure, same calendar

The executive chef of Göğüş Mutfağı — Executive chef and the family's present voice.

Chapter II · Chef & team

The inheritance is carried by a woman

The executive chef of Göğüş Mutfağı is the woman who inherited five centuries of table knowledge — and has since won two gastronomy awards. The restaurant is women's from end to end: kitchen, floor, garden. Each season she hires young women drawn to gastronomy and teaches them at the cauldron, the way she was taught.

i Two gastronomy awards
ii A kitchen wholly owned and operated by women
iii An in-kitchen apprenticeship for young women cooks

On the table

Chapter III · The seasonal table

You cannot order the same dish all year

The table turns with the season. Scroll and it moves to the next one — or pick a season.

With meatMeat-freeMildly spicySpicy

Spring table

March – May · 9 dishes

Erik Tavası
Çağla Aşı
Sarımsak Aşı
Erikli Sarma
Güllü Sarma
Yeni Dünyalı Sarımsak Tava
Omaç
Yeni Dünya Kebabı
Sarımsak Kebabı

Summer table

June – August · 12 dishes

Kilis Kebabı
Domates Tava
Altı Ezmeli
Patlıcan Kebabı
Kürdan Kebabı
Vişneli Sarma
Allı Yeşilli Yaz Dolması
Firikli Acur Dolma
Yoğurtlu Mutaniye
Cacıklı Arap Köfte
Ali Nazik
Köfteli Babagannuş

Autumn / Winter table

September – February · 19 dishes

Şiveydiz
Yoğurt Sarımsak Aşı
Köfteli Unut Beni
Ayvalı Ekşili Taraklık
Tas Kebabı
Antep Kebabı
Etli Dolma
Lahana Sarması
Pancar Sarması
Alaca Çorba
Kapamalı Firik Pilav
Yoğurtlu Patates
Kabaklama
Kamış Kebabı
Ayvalı Ufak Köfte
Ekşili Ufak Köfte
Akıtmalı Ufak Köfte
Yuvalama
Pirpirim Aşı

Reserve this season's table When the season ends, so does the dish.

Chapter IV · The balcony garden

Your salad is picked after you order it

On the upper balcony there is a garden: rocket, purslane, mint, tarragon, thyme, basil. When you order a salad, the floor goes not to the kitchen but out to the garden, cuts what that salad needs and comes back down. Which is also why, when a plant is finished, the salad leaves the menu that week.

The upper-floor balcony garden — The balcony garden, upper floor.

Chapter V · The house

Built top to bottom from reclaimed industrial material

From floor to ceiling, nothing here was bought new. Factory beams, salvaged sheet metal, dismantled workshop doors and benches were put back to work; the tables are old bench tops, the lamps reclaimed fittings.

On the walls are the historic marks of Anatolia: seals from Hittite and Roman periods, symbols of abundance and water, weaving motifs. Each was placed in relation to a dish or a season.

Two floors: the ground floor is library and conversation; the upper floor is the seasonal table, the balcony garden, and soon the workshop room.

Touch the marks on the wall

The four marks on this wall come from different periods of Anatolia, and each is tied to a dish cooked here or to a season. Touch a number.

01

Koçu Boynuzu — the Ram's Horn

One of Anatolia's oldest marks: it stands for strength, heroism, masculinity, fertility and prosperity.

02

Bukağı — the Fetter

Interlocking, linked forms: they speak of family unity, marriage and enduring bonds.

03

Hayat Ağacı — the Tree of Life

The mark of continuity, growth, and the connection between earth and sky.

04

Çengel — the Hook

Hook-shaped forms: traditionally protective symbols against danger and the evil eye.

The ground-floor library — Ground floor: library and conversation.

Chapter VI · Ground floor

The library floor

There is a bookcase at the entrance. You can sit without waiting for a table, order something small, talk, browse. The floor doubles as a small stage: short talks, stand-up nights and seminars are being planned here.

Coming soon

End-of-season talks with the chef
Stand-up and listening nights
Seminars for gastronomy students

The programme is being prepared. Call us to hear about it first.

Chapter VII · Business

A better table than a meeting room

Nearby offices already come for lunch. The three arrangements below are the same kitchen, set for work.

One-to-one

The closed corner

Corners for two with no neighbouring table and no carrying sound. Service comes only when called; privacy is the point.

2 guests · lunch & dinner

Internal

The team table

The whole upper floor for new-year dinners, anniversaries and team gatherings. One long table is laid; the menu is chosen together from that week's season.

10–40 guests · full floor

Clients & suppliers

The hosting table

Host a visiting guest inside a five-hundred-year-old kitchen. If you wish, the chef comes to the table and explains the day's season.

4–12 guests · with the chef

Call for a business table We work directly with HR and office managers on corporate arrangements.

Chapter VIII · Workshops

After the museum, step into the kitchen

The restaurant stands directly opposite the museum entrance. In the workshop room upstairs you will cook one dish of the current season from start to finish under the executive chef — then sit down and eat it.

01

Start at the market

With the chef you look at what is good that morning; the dish is decided there.
02

Cook it with your own hands

From dough to fire, every step is yours. No measures — the chef corrects your hand.
03

Sit down to it

What you cooked is laid on the upper-floor table, with that week's mezes beside it.

Length

≈ 3 hours

Places

6–10

Language

TR / EN

In preparation

The workshop room is being readied. Join the interest list and we will tell you first when the opening dates are set.

Call to join the list

For private group dates or an English-language session, mention it when you call.

Chapter IX · Reservation

Reserve your table

We take reservations by phone only — call and we will hold your table at once. There are few tables; for weekends, call a few days ahead.

Call and hold a table now

Address: Karagöz, Derekenarı Cd. No: 39/7, 27080 Şahinbey / Gaziantep, Türkiye
Directly opposite the Panorama Museum entrance · listed on maps as “Göğüş Mutfağı (Havara)”
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Hours: Every day, 08.30 – 19.30

Before you call

Tell us these on the phone

Tables of 3–10 are laid on the upper floor.

Number of people, day and time
Any allergies or guests who eat no meat
A special occasion or request

One-to-ones, team tables and client hosting.

Company name and number of people
Arrangement: closed corner, team table or hosting table
Invoicing, privacy and full-floor requests

The workshop room is in preparation; join the interest list by phone.

Number of people and suitable dates
Workshop language: Turkish or English

Call now

Every day, 08.30 – 19.30