A new Turkish-Cypriot restaurant from a former Bibi head chef kicked off a year-long residency at the Globe Tavern in Borough Market this week.
Kismet is a joint production from chef Kieran Mustafa and restaurateur Dom Hardy, the man behind Bistro Freddie, Crispin and Canal. Kieran has worked in senior roles at some of London’s top kitchens, including Chez Bruce, the Harwood Arms and Oma as well as Bibi, the high-end Mayfair Indian restaurant where he was head chef at launch.
The Globe’s upstairs dining room has served as a successful launch-pad for a number of restaurant projects in recent years, including Thai outfit Khao Bird, now at a permanent site in Soho, and most recently Barang, a Cambodian cafe currently seeking a full-time home.
Kismet is inspired by traditional Turkish meyhanes – lively taverns where guests gather to drink raki and feast on mezze. The menu ranges from mezze, pastries and side dishes to lamb, chicken and monkfish kebabs, with a set at £48 per person. It is accompanied by house beer and a Turkish-heavy wine list.
Kismet means fate or destiny in Turkish, and the restaurant has the subtitle 1964 – which may refer to a dice game called Kismet launched that year, or to the recording of a musical called Kismet released then.