Hürriyet - It is forbidden to get up before being full!
17/05/2019
Be careful... 'Çeşme Bazlama Kahvaltı in Nişantasi, Istanbul is a breakfast paradise that you should definitely go to if you haven't been yet. An amazing success story. Let me tell you about the place first: It is a place where you can have 'only breakfast' from 9 in the morning until 5 in the evening. There is no menu.
It is forbidden to get up before being full!
A 'mixed breakfast' comes to you with rich options. But what a breakfast! Brace yourselves: There are 37 different jams, 12 types of salad plate, 3 types of hot treats and menemen prepared with 'Mother Nurten''s secret recipe! During breakfast, they serve hot gozleme, bagels and flatbread, from which it takes its name. Their slogan is "It is forbidden to get up before you are full!" Just like a mother-grandmother's house. They replenish everything that runs out free of charge. 'Mother Nurten' always stops by everyone's table and chats. A treat is constantly coming to your table. They even give you any jam you want in a small jar as a gift. It's like being sent off from your mother's house with supplies. Jams are not for sale. It is a sweet, warm place where you can satisfy both your eyes and your stomach. Simply superb! Nurten Tuncer and her daughter Sinem are very committed entrepreneurs. I asked mother Nurten Tuncer the story of 'Çeşme Bazlama Kahvaltı'
Ms. Nurten, what did you do? You have accomplished something amazing! Everyone is talking about your breakfasts...
Thank you very much! I did the two jobs I know best. One is motherhood, the other is breakfast. The rest came naturally. It's all my own table, I take care of it, I work hard. When I see people eating and being happy, I want to make more.
What do people love most?
There are people who love my jams, people who ask about my menemen, and people who love our flatbreads... I think our guests love the feeling we give them the most. They say that we feed both their stomachs and their hearts. Money is not the cure for everything. We do this breakfast business with our soul.
What is the secret of the queue at the door?
Of course, cooking and serving good food has a big impact, but we would be incomplete without the nice people who serve them! We treat people who come to us as guests and host them as such. They also know that we forbid people to get up before they are full. Thanks to them, as our fame spreads, people hear about it.
So what's the story? Did you decide to start a breakfast empire one day? Where did it blow from? How did it come to your mind?
We are a family from Çeşme. Me and my wife Yaşar Ahmet are teachers. After working as a teacher for a while, my wife left her profession and went into business. He turned a stone house in Çeşme into a boutique hotel. My two daughters grew up both in the garden of this stone house and in the summer months with their grandmother, eating flatbreads she made in the village. I worked as a teacher for a long time and also prepared hotel breakfasts. My younger daughter, Sinem, went to America for high school and continued her education there. She stayed there even after school ended. His older sister followed him and stayed there, now a musician. Sinem returned in 2011 and started working here. We always wanted him with us. Sinem said she would accept on one condition: "You will invest in the stone house that has been untouched since 1992 and the much-loved breakfast service!" said.
You wouldn't have become an entrepreneur if it wasn't for your daughter's urging...
Exactly! We started working together in 2013. We were having breakfast in open buffet style at the hotel until Sinem arrived. Sinem changed the name of the place, "I'm going to make it a brand!" said. He opened breakfast service not only to hotel guests but also to those coming from outside. Our 8-room hotel became a breakfast restaurant for 150 people. Gradually, our name began to be heard. Our daughter also took over our social media and made us famous with her posts and invitations...
Was it Sinem's idea to open in Istanbul?
Yes. When she wanted to carry this overflowing interest to Istanbul, she first said, "We can't afford it, girl!" we said. But come and persuade Sinem to give up! He went to a friend's place in Karaköy with a "shared place" suggestion. When his friend agreed, we started serving breakfast only on weekends! Every Sunday, we would go from Istanbul to Izmir, collect the tomatoes and peppers we planted, load them with jam and return on Wednesday evening. We did our job well, the queue started at our door. This time, Sinem started to visit İSMEK and neighborhood markets to reach housewives who would work with us and know how to make gozleme...
It's a great idea!
Yes. This is how we expanded our staff. Those who heard our story and liked our breakfast came and knocked on our door. Then Karaköy started to not be enough. Sinem had been living in Nişantaşı since her return to Turkey, so we decided to move the business there. When we learned that the rents would be beyond our budget, we first found a rotating venue. Today, we rented that first location entirely for our own service and opened 2 more branches nearby!
Congratulations. A true success story! Aren't you afraid if it doesn't work?
Frankly, I didn't expect it to grow this much. But Sinem said, “Mom, trust me. "I will make Çeşme Bazlama Kahvaltı a very good brand," he said. And he was right. We thought of the business we embarked on as both our hobby and our job. We invested effort and enthusiasm into this business instead of money. Then one has no fear!
If You Are Brave, You Win!
You also choose the employees in the kitchen from housewives and mothers.
Yes. To preserve the spirit of family and motherhood, we want them among us instead of professional chefs. The presentation of mother's breakfast should also be with the mother's spirit. This choice became more meaningful when we consider that we also provide economic freedom to housewives. Over time, one by one, they became independent, self-sufficient mothers. What could be more wonderful than this?
What would be your advice to female entrepreneurs?
There is a wonderful table culture and richness of recipes in Anatolia. I wish the new generation would try to prevent these values from dying and blend them with their own culture. Self-confidence is the most important condition for entrepreneurship. My daughter and I have come this far with our courage. It is difficult to be a female business owner. But if you are brave, you will win.
