Andrew Finkel Reviews Sentez in Cornucopia

Cornucopia / 2025

In his Cornucopia piece “Rooms With Views to Feast On”, writer Andrew Finkel looks at three new Istanbul restaurants with fine scenery. One of the restaurants he reviews is Sentez, the rooftop restaurant in Sultanahmet overlooking the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya and the sea beyond.

Finkel notes that chef Fatih Anıl Demirci builds on the ingredients and familiar dishes of Turkish regional cooking to create something out of the ordinary. Among the dishes he singles out are an içli köfte made with pulled lamb and served on herbed yoghurt, rock sea bass with artichoke mousse, Karayaka lamb with morels and keşkek, and a gin-based cocktail topped with whisked soapwort (çöven).

For Finkel, Sentez answers two long-standing questions: where to recommend a meal in the heart of the historic peninsula, and how a kitchen can balance tradition and innovation. He observes that the restaurant, whose name means “synthesis”, reworks the familiar through unusual pairings.