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Turkish breakfast for two and olive-oil martinis are on the menu – not necessarily together, Roger Sterling – at a stylish, new restaurant in Berkeley
Divan opened in June and expanded with dinner service this month in the posh Fourth Street shopping corridor. Located in the former space of Pollara Pizzeria, at 1788 Fourth St., the restaurant is all varnished wood and overflowing vegetation, right down to a tree growing indoors. There’s also a light-infused outdoor terrace, for those who enjoy alfresco dining
The restaurant is run by the team behind San Francisco’s Taksim and Lokma restaurants. “Divan is a Turkish kitchen inspired by the food I grew up eating. We wanted to bring the real flavors of Turkey to Berkeley honest, homemade dishes made with fresh ingredients,” co-owner Serkan Sozen says
“Our chef is passionate about staying true to traditional recipes, while making them feel approachable for everyone,” Sozen says. “The space was designed to feel warm and welcoming, like an invitation into someone’s home.”
Indeed, the word “divan” means a “place of gathering — a council, a shared bench, a circle of friends around one table,” according to the restaurant’s website, which urges customers: “Come gather with us.”
A suitable dish for groups is the Turkish breakfast, served in a portion big enough for two diners, which includes (deep breath) scrambled eggs, a cucumber-tomato salad, Mediterranean olives, feta cheese, bal and kaymak (or honey and clotted cream), muhammara, fig jam, mixed nuts and dried apricots and freshly baked sesame bread ($44)
The lunch and dinner menus offer Turkish specialties like pide, flatbreads baked in the oven with fillings like wild mushrooms, kasseri cheese or fermented and spicy sausage. There are kuzu kaburga (slow-cooked lamb riblets) and lahana sarma (beef cabbage rolls with garlic labneh). On the veggie side, diners can try some mucver (zucchini cake with feta and confit-mint labneh) and a mezze trio with hummus and red pepper-walnut dip
On the larger side, there is a branzino entree with cauliflower puree and rainbow carrots, lamb chops with pistachio chimichurri and marinated beef tenderloin with eggplant and sun-dried tomato. Desserts include red-wine poached pear with mascarpone and a traditional rice pudding with an oven-blackened top. The homemade baklava is a given
Divan is running an ambitious beverage program. There are beers from the Mediterranean and a long list of wines – of which nearly a dozen are available by the glass – hailing from Turkey to South Africa to Santa Barbara, California. Light or zero-alcohol drinks include mimosas in flavors like pomegranate and lychee, and mocktails that blend fresh fruit with herbs and soda
And that olive oil martini? It’s made with “gin gently washed with premium Aegean olive oil,” according to the menu ($15). It’s one of several inventive cocktails in the restaurant’s magical-sounding “Mixology Collection.” There’s also a Cappadocia with tequila and rose water and “edible shimmer” and a Bosphorus Smoke with whiskey, citrus and “lavender smoke.”
Details: Open for lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays and dinner 5-8:45 p.m. daily at 1788 Fourth St., Berkeley; divanberkeley.com
