ALAÇATI VACATION 2013 Part 5: Kapari Atölye Kahve, Köşe Kahve & Taşköy Sanat Cafe...

Dear readers,

Greetings from a very very very hot day in Istanbul! The summer is in full blast (no pun intended!) and thank god for air-conditioning! Today is the 2nd of 3-day Ramadan (also called Şeker, which means sugar in Turkish) Holiday celebrated in the Muslim world after a month of fasting.

After spending a lovely afternoon/evening at the Swissôtel, Bosphorus Istanbul Hotel's Executive Lounge (my cousin and his wife and kids are staying at the hotel on the Executive floor and love it) with my cousins Hayri and Engin and their wives Aletha and Betül visiting from the USA (Richmond, VA and New York), I decided I would just stay in today and catch up on chores and write in my blog. Since most of my close friends are out of town for the holiday and 99% of my relatives live in the USA, I have the luxury of not having to make "holiday" visits to relatives!

In Part 5 of my post from my recent trip to Alaçatı, Çeşme in July for about 3 weeks, I want to write about the 3 cafes I had a chance to visit... once again, I will write about them in alphabetically order...

Kapari Atölye Kahve
If the name sounds familiar... it should! This quaint cafe/art gallery is owned and managed by the proprietors of the Kapari Alaçatı Hotel (see my post on this lovely hotel) where I stayed during my visit to Alaçatı.

Oluş Kızılagaç, besides running a hotel, for a time was into ceramics and took many classes to hone her skill and she did most of her work at the current Kapari Atölye Kahve, which used to be her art studio. When she realized she wouldn't be able to devote a lot of her time to her hobby,she decided to convert her studio to a gallery/cafe this past year and I'm so glad she did! 

Located in the lovely Hacımemiş Mahallesi away from the hustle and bustle of the main area of Alaçatı in Tokoğlu Mahallesi, I visit the cafe to see an exhibit that was organized to benefit the stray animals in Alaçatı. So, I too did my share and purchased a lovely necklace with dog figurines and then sat down to enjoy a glass of wine as I waited for my sister to come before we went to dinner.

I'm surprised at myself for not taking more pictures of this lovely cafe, so you will have to rely on my narrative and just have to visit for yourself!

The gallery is located in a modestly sized room in a restored stone house on the corner of 2012 Sokak (Street) at No.10 while the cafe is in front of the building with a few tables that can probably seat up to 20 people. All the tables are decorated with pumpkins and plastic colorful teacups which are actually ashtrays! 

The menu includes a wide variety of hot/cold non-alcoholic beverages, local wine (by the glass and bottle), beer, grilled toast sandwiches and local & international cheese platter - all at modest prices. 

Kapari Atölye Kahve is a nice place to stop by for a cup of coffee, quick snack, a glass of wine or a homemade lemonade before or after you go out to dinner and is open till around 11:00 pm during the high season.

Köşe Kahve
Köşe Kahve is a "classic" in Alaçatı and I make sure to stop by at least once during each trip (this time it was twice!)

Köşe which means "corner" in Turkish is an apropos name for this cafe as it is located on a corner on the ever popular and crowded Kemalpaşa Street in Alaçatı!

The majority of the tables are located on the main street and like above, there are tables on the side street as well as across the street on the side street where I am sitting below!

Köşe Kahve is open year round with indoor seating and has a very extensive menu that includes all sorts of non-alcoholic hot and cold beverages, a variety of cocktails, wines, salads, sandwiches, mains, etc. I don't know exactly how late it is open, but I have passed by after 1:00am and it was still open.

Taşköy Sanat Cafe
Now, it's time to take a trip back to Hacımemiş Mahallesi and the main street 2012 Sokak No. 46 to Taşköy Sanat (Art) Cafe...

Taşköy Sanat Cafe

To my delight and surprise, this quaint newcomer is owned by my 2nd cousin Sevim, whom I hadn't since in about 30 years (or so!) until I visited her cafe with another 2nd cousin (both on my mother's side) Ayla and her husband Metin after we had dinner at their home which is also located in Hacımemiş Mahallesi! 

So, we had a chance to have a "mini" family reunion as my sister Meltem was with me too!

Ayla, Sevinç (a friend of Ayla's), sister Meltem, me, Sevim (standing) and Metin (from left to right)

We only had Turkish coffee that night and unfortunately I only had a chance to visit one more time and just to take pics and get some more info on Taşköy. First, Sevim also owns Taşköy Hotel (www.taskoyalacati.com), also in the same neighborhood as well as Ege Han Boutique Villa, also in Alaçatı but different neighborhood (www.alacatiegehan.com), which from the website is absolutely gorgeous and available for short and long-term rent. 

As if she didn't have enough on her plate (did I also mention that she is an M.D.?), she decided to open her cafe this season! Taşköy Cafe serves breakfast daily, hot/cold beverages, desserts and award winning Turkish organic wines under their own brand and harvested in Foça! (I only took pictures of the reds, but white and rose are also available)

Additionally, while there you can also pick up organic olives oils and other products produced under their own brand as well as others!

Taşköy Cafe is open until about midnight (or until last customer leaves) during the high season and I highly suggest you stop by and try their wines! 

*****

This rounds out the cafes I had an opportunity to visit while in Alaçatı... there are many many more places to try, but as always not enough time! 

I plan on writing a couple more posts from my trip to Alaçatı and should be finalizing them pretty soon - I hope!!!

I had so much fun on my recent trip to Alaçatı that I am planning another visit shortly, but will only be staying a week, so don't know how many new places I will discover because I'm sure I'm going to want to visit the places I went to the last time... we'll just have to wait and see!


Stay well,
Dani