Friends bring a taste of Turkey to Cork city with new venture 

A local café is a great amenity, providing a focal point for a community and sometimes a welcome respite from working at home.

When Turkish friends, Ali Can Fincan and Halit Aker, decided to follow their dream to run a café, they looked at a couple that were up for sale.

In the end, they settled on Tory’s Café on Tory Top Road in Ballyphehane, which was previously run by two friendly Cork women.

Having taken over the business about two months ago, Ali and Halit are serving the same food as the previous owners, including full Irish breakfasts, slimmer’s vegetarian breakfast, scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, omelettes, soup, sandwiches, cake, and scones.

But they have also introduced some Turkish treats like baklava and pistachio and chocolate cake.

They show me how Turkish coffee is served. It comes in a small china cup placed on a miniature tray with a tiny glass of cold water to cool down the coffee if necessary, and a little dish for a piece of Turkish delight. They also serve Turkish-style bagels which are bigger than usual and have sesame seeds on them. They are filled with ham and cheese.

Also at the cafe, you can sample borek, a popular Turkish dish of spinach and feta cheese encased in crispy pastry. There is menemen, which consists of scrambled eggs with finely chopped tomatoes, onion, and olive oil, with an optional serving of cheese. Another egg dish comprises two poached eggs with yoghurt and garlic.

Ali and Halit say they will continue to serve typical Irish fare. However, to their delight, they say that their customers are open to trying dishes from Turkey, often cooked in Mediterranean style.

Tory’s Café is open for breakfast and lunch, or just for coffee and a chat with a neighbour.

Halit’s wife, Buse, whose family ran a bakery in Istanbul for over 40 years, does a lot of pastry-making for the cafe. She used to work weekends at the bakery while she was a student. Her father retired from the bakery recently and closed it down. Now, his daughter is continuing the tradition of making fine pastry with Turkish flair for the people of Ballyphehane.

Ali and Halit, who have been living in Ireland for nearly seven years, are well qualified in other areas.

Ali lived in Dublin for three years where he completed a Master’s in international management at Trinity College Dublin, at the university’s business school. He moved to Cork when he got a job offer at Apple, where he worked in AI (artificial intelligence.) Halit worked in the same area at Apple, having studied data science at MTU.

“Being on a computer all day makes you tired mentally,” says Ali. “In the café, you are happy. You talk to customers and see different people. The time goes fast.”

He lives in Glanmire with his wife and eight-month-old daughter Alice. Halit and Buse and their 18-month-old little girl Hazel, also live in Glanmire. (Buse is an industrial engineer and works in Apple when she’s not busy baking.)

Ali says that Cork is a better city for his needs than Dublin.

“It’s quieter and the people are so nice and friendly. I lived in Dublin city centre. There are so many people there, all rushing in the morning. I was born and raised in Istanbul, which is a big city. But for me, it’s better to live in a small city.”

Halit is also from Istanbul.

Coming to Ireland to further their studies was a no-brainer.

“It’s always better to go abroad to study. That is what Turkish people think. If you study in a different country, it makes your experience better. And it improved my English, which I also studied here.

“There were two options for me, the UK and Ireland. I was told Irish people are more friendly so that’s why I came here.”

Neither Ali nor Halit have eaten at Dede, the twice-Michelin-star-awarded restaurant in Baltimore, West Cork, run by a fellow Turk, Ahmet Dede.

When dining out in Cork, Ali likes to go to Quinlans for fish or Tradehouse Central in Ballincollig for steak.

Tory’s Café, where two Brazilians also work, has seating for 26 people.

Ali expects it to be a lot busier once schools open in September.

“At the moment, we are getting used to the place and the customers,” he said.

He is pleased to report that he and Halit are making enough money to make the business viable.

He says he wasn’t expecting his customers to be adventurous and try out new dishes.

It’s a little bit of Turkey in one of Cork’s oldest suburbs.