Head chef Liam Smith-Laing on the challenges of bringing fine-dining to old Byzantium
When one thinks of eating in Istanbul, one thinks of street food: succulent grilled meats, fresh fish sandwiches and warming spices that speak of Asia, the continent that claims the eastern half of this ancient city. The idea of a stiff, formal dining experience sits uneasily with Istanbul’s steamy vibrancy. If someone were to attempt to remove crumbs from a diner’s tablecloth with a tiny little brush, they’d probably be laughed all the way back to the service hatch.
So why have La Petite Maison, slick proponents of the flavours, scents and glamour of the Côte d’Azur and neighbouring Liguria, with outposts in London, Moscow and Dubai (amongst others) decided to open in Istanbul as of two months ago, albeit in the ex-premises of Emporio Armani in the upmarket Nişantaşi district?
“There isn’t really a fine dining scene here,” says head chef Liam Smith-Laing over the phone, in between instructing his brigade. “Eating is very social: you don’t see as many small groups eating in restaurants as you do in London. People like to be seen and they like places to have a buzz.”Also, they’re fairly conservative about food. Nine out of 10 restaurants are very Turkish and it’s quite difficult for other cuisines to muscle in on the territory. But the types of ingredients we’re using are familiar – olive oil, lemon juice, tomatoes, courgettes – and they suit the climate. It’s food made for sharing. It seems like a good opportunity for us to make a mark in a city that doesn’t have a great deal of foreign food in it”
Snaring diners used to a completely different way of eating out is one thing, sourcing produce in a country with exceptionally strict import rules, particularly on meat, is quite another, especially for a restaurant whose signature dish is Whole Roasted Black Leg Chicken with Foie Gras (Poulet au Foie Gras). Then there’s the annual summer-long fishing ban caused by decades of over-fishing in the Bospherous and the Sea of Marmara.
“It seems like a good opportunity for us to make a mark in a city that doesn’t have a great deal of foreign food in it”
“We’ve kept the menu true to the brand, it’s instantly recognisable, but we sometimes can’t source the quality we want,” says Liam, “so we have to be a bit more creative. The fishing ban has really reduced the amount of fish available to us over the summer months and we can’t get any imported meat in. There are incredibly high taxes on most import goods. So the menu changes much more than the other [La Petite Maison] restaurants. In somewhere like Dubai they’re allowed to get everything in because they produce nothing. Part of a very well recognised brand is that it’s got a real reputation for certain dishes and the quality of its produce. We don’t want to compromise.”
So what of the service? Whilst hardly over-starched – certainly not at the original restaurant in Nice overseen by notoriously cantankerous proprietor Nicole Rubi – the brand has a reputation at least on par with other restaurants of the ilk, where mains come in around the £30 mark. “Service in restaurants here is generally not great so that’s something we’ve really tried to concentrate on. Guests won’t have to look around for a waiter, but they won’t be tripping over them,” Liam reassures me. “The really busy restaurants here, the high turnover restaurants, are places that give their customers what they want. Customers know what they want here and they’re very particular.”
So the recipe for success seems simple: give customers what they want, be willing to adapt without compromise, as they seemingly are, and make – if you can find the filling – the best fish sandwich in all Istanbul. Get that right, and La Petite Maison should be anything but a ‘petite’ success.
