About Zahter

Welcome to Zahter

We provide a fresh perspective, flavours and storytelling on traditional Turkish food at Zahter. Our dishes are influenced by Istanbul's vast ethnic heritage and look to history as a source for innovative new finds. Istanbul cuisine reflects a mixture of cultures in which you can find a bit of every flavour. Signature items are derived from the old recipes but revived with Zahter's cooking methods and artisanal sourced produce.

Restaurant

Zahter showcases a true Istanbulite cuisine with its rich and vibrant flavours. Our ingredient led menu encompasses finely crafted dishes and exotic tastes around a wood and charcoal oven, and is continually changed subject to seasonal product availability. Paving the way for passion-fuelled, new experiences, chef Esra Muslu skilfully revives and re-introduces artichokes, olive oil dishes, appetisers and seafood. Using fresh ingredients is vital for the taste, hence we source our ingredients from original sources and small artisanal producers.

With our attentive service, we strive to provide warm and welcoming Turkish hospitality, so our guests can have a memorable, stylish and yet relaxed dining experience.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the Loft our own private event space, Zahter can deliver a range of dining experiences from full spread Turkish breakfasts to after-work drinks, to private parties.

Private Events

The second floor of Zahter, the Loft, is decorated for private events with its own open plan kitchen and bar counter and lounge-style furnishing. The Loft can accommodate up to 25 people and can be hired for private dining and parties.

Team

Zahter is founded by Esra Muslu and her sister Yasemin Efe with their partner Simay Kamer from QFood*

Led by Esra Muslu, our team, including the back and front of house, is the backbone of our restaurant. As a team, we take pride in providing excellent, friendly service that our guests enjoy.

*Q Food & Beverage was founded in 2013. Since then, it has gone on to establish itself as a global player within the F&B sector, showcasing a diverse portfolio of luxury-lifestyle brands and venues across the world.

With a legacy spanning over 80 years, ATASAY Jewellery - Turkey’s largest retail jewellery brand, has achieved worldwide recognition across a range of accessible luxury and upscale dining brands; HuqqA, The Market, HuQQabaz, Qurabiye, GAL, URLA and Zahter. 

More about Esra Muslu

Esra Muslu first came to London when she was 18 to study, but later left to do a degree in Culinary Arts at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. After that she returned to Istanbul where she opened her first restaurant in 2007, a fine-dining concept called Moreish located in the city’s Beyoğlu district. Her restaurant Moreish proved popular, and eventually led to Esra to form a partnership with others, to launch a collection of six more restaurants.

Working with Nick Jones as a head chef in Soho House Istanbul brought her to London to a new role at Shoreditch House. From there she joined Yotam Ottolenghi’s kitchen team as the head chef at Ottolenghi Spitalfields. In 2018 she established a successful Carousel residency.