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   Photo courtesy of Arkestra

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Cenk Debensason & Debora Ipekel (Arkestra, Istanbul)

"You can have the best location in the world, but if the vibe is not there, it just doesn't work. It's the people who matter."

 

Arkestra is the lovechild of Istanbul-based duo Debora Ipekel and Cenk Debensason – a meeting point of high-vibe gastronomy and deep-listening audiophile culture. Debensason brings his Michelin-honed finesse to the table, shaped by years in France, while Ipekel curates the mood in a vinyl-fuelled listening bar. Together, they’ve created a lively, sensory dining experience set inside one of Istanbul’s most atmospheric buildings.

Earlier this year, the duo brought their magic to Athens for Mona’s Supper Club series. From the music to the menu, they handpicked every detail to craft a two-night-only dinner and sound gathering in Mona’s Living Room.

We caught up with Debora and Cenk to talk about cooking for the people you love, the psychedelic grooves of 70s Turkey, and what it really takes to run a place like Arkestra.

 

Interview & Portraits EFTIHIA STEFANIDI 

HOS: Growing up, did you always want to be a chef? 

CENK: No, when I was young, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I was drawing constantly as a kid and my dream was to go to Los Angeles to study graphic design. We had family dinners when I was young, and my grandmother used to cook really well, but we were only going to her house every month or two. My mom, by contrast, worked hard and didn’t like to cook that much at home. Whenever she was cooking something, I was correcting her food—adding sauces, spices. Cooking for her made me realise how much I really loved it. 

HOS: Did you have a mentor?

CENK: A chef called Jérôme Banctel in the first professional restaurant I worked at in Paris. He was my mentor. The important learning moments of my career were in professional restaurants in France and pop-up dinners in Los Angeles. I had no one working with me for these dinners, and that’s where I gained confidence in my abilities. Pleasing people in a city I didn’t know at all was difficult at first, but they kept coming. It taught me how to manage a small business.

 

 

“The space has become a restaurant where music, food, and ambience come together under one roof. It’s exciting elegant, but at the same time very unpretentious and fun.”

 

photography by EFTIHIA STEFANIDI

,HOS: How did Arkestra begin?

CENK: I first met Debora when she was living in London and, after moving back to Istanbul, we put together a pop-up project in a summer spot in the south of Turkey. It was a successful summer, and that’s when we realised we really had to open a restaurant back in Istanbul.

DEBORA: Arkestra has since become a place where music, food and ambience come together under one roof. It’s exciting, elegant, but at the same time very unpretentious and fun. 

CENK: We try to differentiate ourselves from the typical Michelin-star restaurant. We don’t have a tasting menu, for example. Everything is a la carte, so people can choose freely. It’s not a silent environment, we have DJs spinning records upstairs, and a smaller bistro in our front room called Ritmo where we serve more laid-back bistro food.

HOS: What is your main culinary inspiration?

CENK: Visually, it has to be aesthetic, and taste-wise, it has to be delicious, but I can’t say there’s a specific inspiration. I enjoy a worldly mix that’s unmistakeably Arkestra. Everything is made with local Turkish produce. Whatever I find, I use, but I like to play around with techniques.

 

“Usually, when I go to the market, it’s for pleasure or seasonal inspiration… [Greek] produce quality looks even better [than in Istanbul].”

 

HOS: How was it to visit the Athens Central Market today?

CENK: Usually, when I go to the market, it’s for pleasure or seasonal inspiration. I felt quite at home today. Seeing that neighbourhood with all the vendors, the spice market—it’s so Istanbul. And the produce quality looks even better. Especially in terms of seafood.

HOS: What are you planning to cook at Mona’s supper club?

CENK: I’m going to cook Arkestra signatures. But I don’t like to repeat myself, so I bought some other ingredients. We’ll start with snap pea salad and Greek cheese. Then we’ll have a bread mullet crudo with white asparagus and a brown butter grenoble sauce. Then fried eggplant with miso cream and salmon roe. For the main dish, we’ll have grouper with a guayabes sauce.


HOS: And what will we be listening to?

DEBORA: Turkish music from the 60s and 70s. Jazz, funk, soul, disco, Brazilian music, African music, cumbia, Latin. It’s going to be a fun set, taking you all around the world. 

HOS: Do you have a specific angle for the music you curate in the restaurant? 

DEBORA: Mainly, the goal is making you feel good, just like Cenk’s food. 

 

“I worked in an incredible record store in London which changed my whole life… [It] introduced me to every genre of music you could imagine.”

 

photography by EFTIHIA STEFANIDI

HOS: How did you became a DJ?

DEBORA: I got into records in high school by exploring the stores in Istanbul. I was really fascinated by 70s Turkish psychedelic music at first. That started my collection. I worked in an incredible record store in London which changed my whole life. It’s called Sounds of the Universe. I was a salesperson. And it introduced me to every genre of music you could imagine.

HOS: Do you still listen to 70s Turkish psychedelic?

DEBORA: Of course. I still listen to a lot of Turkish music. I brought Turkish 7 inches and LPs to play at Mona. I don’t know much about Greek music, but I was checking out some local Greek jazz today. I realised one of the musicians was playing an instrument called ney, which is quite a spiritual instrument in Turkey. 

 

“Mona has a great music selection. I’ve never been to a hotel which has such good playlists. It really changes your mood to hear good music when you enter a room.”

 

photography by YORGOS KAPSALAKIS @Mona_Athens

HOS: How do you feel about the increasing popularity of vinyl? 

DEBORA: Some venues that play only vinyl can feel pretentious, but that’s a problem in every venue. You can sense if a place is sincere and genuine when you walk in. Mona has a great music selection. I’ve never been to a hotel which has such good playlists. It really changes your mood to hear good music when you enter a room.

HOS: What was your relationship with food before you met Cenk?

DEBORA: I was always interested in eating good food. Whenever there was a new restaurant opening in London, I knew about it. And since I was DJing a lot around Europe, I became quite interested in hospitality. If I hadn’t met Cenk, I would’ve opened a bar or something.

 

“Whenever [my mother] was cooking something, I was correcting her food—adding sauces, spices. Cooking for her made me realise how much I really loved it.”

 

photography by EFTIHIA STEFANIDI

HOS: Cenk, what is your relationship to music?

CENK: I’ve always loved music. I used to play in a cover band. When I met Debora, though, I stopped thinking about what I was going to listen to. She always plays something great.

HOS: If you could host a one night only dinner party anywhere in the world, where would that be and who would you invite?

DEBORA: I would love to have a table of legendary musicians all sitting and eating Cenk’s food. It doesn’t really matter where. You can have the best location in the world, but if the vibe is not there, it just doesn’t work. It’s the people who matter. 

 

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