The U.N. climate conference (COP31), which will be held in Antalya this November, has been making headlines lately. I’ve been spending more time in Antalya due to a small assignment I’ve taken on. While the climate summit may not be on many people’s radar, climate change inevitably affects everyone. Recent flood disasters have turned our lives upside down. I don’t know if COP31 decisions are as binding on governments as they used to be, but it’s important from our perspective that the summit is being held in Antalya. Antalya and its surrounding areas are among our leading agricultural regions. At the same time, the Bey Mountains, which form the city’s backdrop, are a unique natural treasure. Mount Olympos, just west of the Antalya Gulf, is particularly special because at the top of its Çıralı hill is an ever-burning flame called Yanar Taş, which simply means “The Burning Stone.” The local name of the hill indicates its never-dying spark of light, as “Çıralı” means “with kindling firewood.” According to mythology, the flames came from the mouth of the monster Chimera.
Çıralı Hill is rocky, but further inland, you will find yourself in a wonderland of amazing flavors and aromas. Deep in the woods, you can find wild honey and mushrooms, and the air in the forest is healing. Down from the village of Beycik is a small retreat called the Olympos Mountain Lodge. It has only a few rooms, all of which face the woods. When Mehmet Ali Börtücene, the chef at The Rabbit Hole at Olympos Mountain Lodge, called me and offered me the chance to escape to Olympos, I put all my plans on hold for a night.
My reason for escaping wasn’t just my love for Olympos, though. It was mostly curiosity. I was eager to meet the trio of chefs — three nature-loving chefs whose cuisine has intrigued me and whose work I’ve followed from afar: Mehmet Ali Börtücene of The Rabbit Hole, the host; Bahtiyar Büyükduman of Telezzüz in Istanbul; and Daniel Vidal of Baldío in Mexico City. I wanted to witness what they would create when they came together.
Arca Tierra-Baldío: Mexico’s green star
The concept of “zero waste” has been rising in popularity in recent years. Mexico City, one of the world’s most populous cities, is likely a prime candidate for this concept. Baldío, the city’s first and only restaurant with a Green Michelin Star, is an Arca Tierra project. The core idea is simple: Source all ingredients from small-scale farmers, waste nothing and use fermentation to transform materials destined for the trash into delicious meals. Of course, achieving this in a bustling urban environment is no easy feat. The collaboration between Baldío chef Daniel Vidal and Arca Tierra founder Pablo Usobiaga has made it possible to bring this mission to life. The source of the food is key to the endeavor’s success. The starting point is the chinampas, agricultural islands dating back two thousand years. These man-made, floating gardens are essentially islands. The restaurant sources its fresh ingredients from these islands. They also apply the zero-waste concept to the full, that’s why they are nicknamed the restaurant without a trash bin. This is precisely how Baldío earned its Green Michelin Star.
Different landscapes, shared mindset
How did this green connection stretching from Mexico to a mountain village in Antalya, Türkiye, come about? Thanks to Mehmet Ali Börtücene, who is well known in Ankara and is affectionately called “Mali” by his friends. His “rabbit hole,” an escape from Ankara, is the Olympos Mountain Lodge in Beycik village. The lodge offers a tasting menu that changes every night, providing a surprising adventure where you never know what you’ll encounter — just like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. After Mali’s exploratory trip to Mexico, his like-minded Mexican friends followed him into this rabbit hole. Bahtiyar Büyükduman, the chef at Telezzüz — Istanbul’s go-to spot for plant-based cuisine and recipient of the Michelin Green Star — also joined them, contributing with finding a sponsor for the whole mission. His totally vegan restaurant is the only vegan fine/dining venue in Istanbul and as he is an archaeologist in origin, he likes to dig deep down in the history of dishes and ingredients.
These three like-minded chefs have prepared a special nine-course tasting menu. They are all committed to sustainability. They find joy in even the smallest things they forage and gather in nature. They don’t want to waste anything. Bahtiyar’s Ajo Blanco dish used zucchini stems and was inspired by the Mediterranean tradition of repurposing stale bread.
Daniel’s amazing white mole dish was straight out of the woods, featuring local wild mushrooms and pine nuts foraged from the forest and served with white mole sauce. Mali’s crispy chicken was blended with forest herbs, his butter spread was cedar-smoked and the olive explosion was straight from the olive tree in the garden, only a few meters away from the kitchen. Each flavor was a new discovery and an exciting surprise.
This culinary collaboration, shaped around the gastronomic heritage of Anatolia and Mexico, as well as a focus on sustainability and a zero-waste approach, brought together three different chefs not only at a shared table but also with a shared vision and a common goal. And that was what truly mattered. While Antalya was bustling with preparations for COP31, a quiet yet powerful voice emerged from the Olympos Mountain. The ever-burning flame of Yanat Taş, the burning stone, seemed to shine even brighter. The shared vision of these three eco-conscious chefs lit a green light for the future.
