Aug 28, 2016
“The fire was creeping up on me,” says Ibrahim Kasif. “It was
pretty scary.”
He was working at Porteno when smoke began to billow through the
atrium. He headed up to to the roof to check for problems – and
found it seriously in flames. The building had to be evacuated,
firefighters were called and the street was shut down.
The Porteno fire was one of many incidents that delayed the opening
of Ibrahim’s first solo restaurant, Stanbuli. There were also the
epic battles with council (which involved an expensive pre-DA that
turned out to be useless) and the fact that the site – the amazing
Marie-Louise Salon on Enmore Road – was so dilapidated that it
wouldn’t take much encouragement for the floor to collapse
dramatically under your feet.
Stanbuli, once it (finally!) opened, represented the Turkish food
that Ibrahim grew up with – the fried eggplant that his grandmother
would tease the family with, as well as the fish sandwiches and
stuffed mussels that you’d find on the streets of Istanbul. There
was not a stereotypical kebab or Turkish rug in sight – and the
singular, highly personal menu makes Stanbuli a Sydney
standout.
Ibrahim talks about the long road to opening Stanbuli, the
fascinating history of the Marie-Louise salon that used to be on
the site (it's worth staying to the end to hear this), as well as
the unexpected side effect of John Lethlean panning his lamb brain
dish in an otherwise glowing review. (Despite that incidental
thumbs down, Stanbuli has opened to great notices by everyone -
from Terry Durack, Gourmet Traveller and beyond.)
Plus, what it was like to work on a yacht as the chef for the
ninth-richest man in Australia, the tough start to Ibrahim’s
career, and where he likes to eat and drink in Sydney.