Herise İstanbul

Herise takes its name from a dish of slow-cooked wheat and meat, one of Anatolia's most ancient preparations — and that dedication to unearthing forgotten traditions runs through every element of this quietly impressive restaurant in Beşiktaş. Selected for the Michelin Guide Turkey's 2025 edition, it represents a new wave of Istanbul restaurants that look inward rather than outward for inspiration.

Chef Emre Açıkgöz worked in kitchens across Europe before returning home with a conviction that Anatolia's culinary heritage — stretching back thousands of years — deserved the same technical reverence applied to French cuisine. His menu rotates with the seasons and draws on ingredients from across Turkey's provinces: pistachios from Gaziantep, tulum cheese from Divle, pomegranates from Adıyaman. Nothing is imported when Turkey already grows it.

A typical evening might open with a tartlet of smoked eggplant and Ankara honey, progress through a cured salmon prepared with sumac and pomegranate molasses, and build to a centrepiece of whole roasted squab with walnut-and-grape stuffing — a preparation found in Ottoman cookbooks dating to the 16th century. Dessert arrives as a contemporary riff on kazandibi: caramelised milk pudding served with bergamot ice cream and candied lemon peel.

The dining room is understated — exposed stone walls, handmade ceramic plates, a curated soundtrack that shifts from Şükrü Tunar to contemporary Turkish jazz. Service is warm and genuinely enthusiastic. The natural wine list skews heavily Turkish, with particular strength in wines from the Aegean.

Birthday: A meal at Herise feels celebratory without requiring a special occasion — but for birthdays, the kitchen's willingness to tailor courses and the room's intimate scale make it a memorable choice for groups up to eight.