From our friends at Ankara Restaurant...
Ankara Offers Lunch, Dinner and Alfresco Happy Hour
Celebrates famous Turkish breakfast with Sunday Brunch
Ankara, a celebration of good food, hospitality and the heart of Turkey, announces its opening date. The restaurant will do a soft-opening with limited lunch and dinner service starting Thursday, May 14 and will officially open its door for lunch, dinner, happy hour and Sunday brunch on Wednesday, May 20. This upscale-casual dining experience will celebrate the rich diversity of Turkish food and culture through a blend of classic and contemporary menu offerings and superb hospitality. The menu will feature the best of traditional Turkish foods as well as newly envisioned dishes. The restaurant will offer lunch and dinner, a weekday Happy Hour during patio season and a Turkish-inspired Sunday brunch. Dinner prices range from $6 to $16 for soups, starters, salads and pide. Dinner entrée prices range from $16-$29. Desserts range from $7-$9.
The Aslanturk family, owners of Ankara, tapped Chef Jorge Chicas, who has held top positions in Jose Andres’ kitchens in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, to oversee the creation of the menu. The culinary team at Ankara draws on a deep knowledge of classic and contemporary Turkish cooking as well as the many regional influences on Turkish cuisine to create a menu that pays homage to the varied tastes of Turkey and will take diners on a culinary tour of the country.
The lunch and dinner menus offer a wide array of soups, cold and hot meze dishes, salads, pide (flat breads), grilled kebab and desserts. A tempting range of dinner entrées include Seared Branzino with caperberries, olives, pearl onions, tomatoes and lemon vinaigrette; Braised Lamb Shank with gremolata, roasted eggplant puree with a natural jus; Ali Nazik, a traditional dish from the Gaziantep region that features smoked eggplant and sautéed lamb cubes as well as the signature Ankara Tava, a generous Turkish pilav served with a beef, tomato, pepper and onion sautée.
Lunch guests can also enjoy a selection of sandwiches including a Lamb Burger with feta, cumin, and baby arugula on a brioche bun and Kofte served on pide with sumac onions, grilled tomatoes and peppers in addition to Doner Kebab and others, as well as a range of kebab and pide. Lunch starters are priced at $6-$16, salads $7-$8, pides $10-$12, grilled kebab and sandwiches $10.50-$13.
Happy Hour will be available on the outside patio during patio season. It will feature rotating drink and food specials designed to appeal to neighbors and the local business community.
Their innovative Sunday brunch menu will be a celebration of the famous Turkish breakfast, Van Kahvaltisi - a broad selection of small plates of savory and sweet items including bal (honey), peynir (cheeses), zeytin (olives), recel (fresh fruit jams), tomatoes, peppers and more. Diners will also select three additional items from a range of egg, salad and pide dishes. They’ll end brunch with a sweet treat compliments of the restaurant. Brunch is available for $35 per person, plus tax and tip.
The restaurant will offer group dining via two flexible semi-private dining areas where groups from 15 to 45 can enjoy special prix fixe menus. Advanced reservations are required.
Much like the menu, the design of the restaurant blends modern, contemporary elements with classic traditional Turkish influences. A warm and earthy palate can be found throughout the restaurant, most prominently on the dramatic red painted ceiling that will draw guests in. Wood details as evidenced by the three large group dining tables provide a sense of Old World, stately tradition, while the bar shelves and wine rack made of 100 year old wood bring in a natural and historic feel. Iron-finished chandeliers and slender, antique inspired wall scone lights topped with linen shades bring warmth to the Old World aesthetic. Dila Development and Construction, the Aslanturk family’s primary enterprise, oversaw the construction and design under the guidance of their in house-designer Adam Mayhew.
Lunch is available Monday - Saturday from 11 AM - 4 PM. Dinner is served Monday - Sunday from 5 PM - 12 midnight. Sunday Brunch is from 11 AM - 3 PM. Happy Hour is available Monday - Friday from 5-7 PM.
About Ankara:
Ankara celebrates good food, hospitality and the heart of Turkey. It is an upscale-casual dining experience that celebrates the rich diversity of Turkish food and culture through a blend of classic and contemporary menu offerings and superb hospitality. Ankara is a labor of love for the Aslanturk family. Father, brothers, wives, cousins and children in both Washington, DC and Ankara, Turkey have come together to create a place that offers superior food, and encourages conversation and celebration amongst friends and family as well as neighbors and business professionals in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The menu will feature the best of traditional Turkish foods as well as newly envisioned dishes. Ankara will serve lunch on Monday - Saturday from 11 AM - 4 PM; dinner Monday - Sunday from 5 PM - 12 midnight and Sunday Brunch from 11 AM - 3 PM. Happy Hour is available Monday - Friday from 5 PM to - 7 p.m. during patio season. The restaurant seats 120 indoors & 115 alfresco on the patio. Ankara is located at 1320 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20036. Reservations can be made by going to Open Table or by contacting the restaurant directly. For more on Ankara, go to www.ankaradc.net, follow on Facebook and Twitter or call 202-293-6301.
