Sultanahmet Köftecisi

The story of the 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi, which has become famous enough to influence Turkish culinary culture today, begins when Mehmet Seracettin Efendi laid the foundations in 1916 and opened his tiny shop on the corner of Divanyolu Street in Sultanahmet (where the Millennium Stone now stands) in 1920.

In the shop, called Turan Kebapçı (Turan Kebab Shop), meatballs are kneaded with a small amount of bread, salt and onion, added to carefully selected meats without using any spices and cooked over a barbecue fire. These meatballs, which reveal the true taste of the meat, have become an indispensable taste, first for the residents of the neighbourhood and then for all Istanbul’s residents.

As the number of customers increased year by year, Hacı Mehmet Seracettin Tezçakın continued to work with his three sons Mustafa, Selim and İsmail and in 1944 the name of the business was changed to Halk Kebapçı.

After the death of their father in 1952, his sons Mustafa, Selim and İsmail took over the business as the second generation of the Tezçakın family. When the location of the first shop was expropriated in 1964, the second generation, brothers İsmail and Selim Tezçakın, continued to serve the people of Istanbul under the name “Meşhur Halk Kebapçısı” in what is now the centre of 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi.

Mehmet Seracettin Tezçakın, the son of İsmail Usta, started working in the shop in 1976 as the third generation. It was during this period that “Sultanahmet” was added to the name of the business, which was included in the World Heritage List. With good taste and friendly service, the business began to take root and become a brand, first as “Sultanahmet Meşhur Halk Köftecisi” and later as “Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi”. During this period, Ali Cihat Tezçakın, the brother of Mehmet Seracettin Tezçakın, joined the company and it continued to grow.

Mehmet S. Tezçakın’s sons, İsmail Timur, Selim Sinan and Mustafa Mert Tezçakın, who continue to develop the heritage that their grandfather brought to Turkish culinary culture with a modern understanding, join the company as the 4th generation. The franchise activities started in the country are also carried out abroad according to the interest shown.  The first foreign branch of 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi is opened in Baku, the capital of the sister country Azerbaijan.

For Sultanahmet Köftecisi, now a global brand, 2016 and beyond has been a year of expansion into Europe. Munich and Nuremberg in Germany, Manchester in the UK and City Mall in Famagusta in the TRNC were added to the international branch network. Companies in the USA and Bulgaria were established and included in the investment plans.

The gradual increase in the number of branches and its reputation at home and abroad make 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi the most imitated brand in Turkey. Despite the attempts to imitate the brand, the meatballs, which are served as “taste balls” without any spices and made of the healthiest meat, can never be imitated. However, in order to prevent imitations from damaging the value of the brand and to ensure easy identification, the name of Selim Tezçakın, one of the second generation, has been added to the company’s name for some time: “Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi – Selim Usta”.

Registered as a “Recognised Trademark” by the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI), the company has been operating under the brand name “1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi” since 2017.

1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi is a century-old company that, in addition to its commercial activities, carries out various projects to protect Turkey’s cultural heritage.

Mehmet S. Tezçakın, the third-generation owner of 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi, which has the world’s largest collection of Ottoman paper money, has been working for years to bring a money museum to Turkey.  Mehmet S. Tezçakın has opened many exhibitions using the company’s facilities, bringing the relics of the Ottoman Empire together with new generations.

Mehmet S. Tezçakın, a consultant and expert on Ottoman paper coins at national and international exhibitions, fairs and auctions, crowns his work with a book published in 2005. The first and only book of its kind in the world, ‘Paper Coins of the Ottoman Empire’ was awarded a ‘Cultural Publication’ certificate by the Ministry of Culture.  Today, all numismatists around the world collect Ottoman paper money with the reference numbers in this book.

Mehmet Seracettin Tezçakın, in order to share his work with the masses and to keep alive the almost forgotten traditions of the Ottoman Empire, presents to the customers of 1920 Sultanahmet Köftecisi the coins that have been out of circulation for decades under the names of ‘Tooth Rent’ and ‘Bereket Money’.

Sultanahmet Köftecisi, which has been known for its delicious meatballs for a hundred years, continues to serve its customers successfully.