Kurdish-Turkish Cuisine: A New Tradition Made in Nashville

Since opening in 2018, Edessa Restaurant has built a reputation for serving authentic Kurdish-Turkish food in Music City.

Providing an experience of flavors to locals and a wider established Kurdish population of 20,000 people in Nashville, the restaurant received praise and recognition from The Tennessean and Nashville Scene in recent years.

However, the spotlight shifted in the end of September, when the restaurant featured in the newly released list of Top 50 American Restaurants in 2024 by The New York Times.

Mesut Keklik, one of three partners at Edessa, came to the United States in 2014 and opened it seeking to bring a taste from home he could not find.

The restaurant’s name originates from Keklik’s hometown, called Edessa, which means ancient city and is located in a diverse part of Turkey close to Syria.

The area’s historical diversity before the ‘90s, comprising people with Turkish, Jewish, Armenian and Kurdish backgrounds, influenced the cuisine, developing its richness and flavors, said Keklik.

“The main goal of our dish in the restaurant here is keeping the food authentic as possible,” said Roj Botani, a server. “We are here to serve everyone and serve people equally with our food and our tradition.”

Botani, a polyglot, originated from Turkey but moved to the United States from the Netherlands two years ago.

He said the national recognition by The Times brought new customers, while not changing the usual busyness of Edessa.

Whereas for Keklik, the mention brings happiness along a sense of responsibility.

“Imagine some people are going to come one, two, three hours away to try this food,” he said. “We have to deserve that.”

Keklik looked to instill the importance of guests from the Turkish culture to the rest of his team.

“This is also one of our goals here, that make sure that if customers come here, make sure they have good food here and they're happy with their food,” said Botani. “If you're happy today with your food, you'll be happy tomorrow.”

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This video and article was made by Federico Pravettoni