Hatay Restaurant was opened in Kadıköy by Ali Demir in 1967, and has continued to serve in Bostancı, on Bağdat Street, since 1986. From 1979 until December 2021, Tevfik Demir, son of the founder Ali Demir, and Mehmet Ali Işık operated it together. Currently, it continues to provide services at its location in Bostancı, run by its operator, calligraphy artist Osman Kartaler.
Hatay Restaurant has been a meeting place for artists, especially Cemal Süreya, for years, and all the walls of the place are filled with photographs, handwritings, poems and stories of the artists. In addition to being a restaurant, both in the past and today, autograph sessions are held, art exhibitions and literary events are also held.
“Hatay is a drinking house. But it has also had a weight in the lives of us artists, especially the people of Kadıköy, that goes beyond its function and qualifications. It has become our home. Hatay is a place where writers' photographs and magazine pages are hung on the walls... It is perhaps the only tavern that has a notebook... Cevat Dereli, Burhan Uygur, Edip Cansever come, draw pictures and write poems in that notebook. The lines that hundreds of poets wrote for each other. It is also a coffee. You can also go for tea. I wrote many of my articles there. Mailbox: Letters come there. It is like a country restaurant, food and drink is not necessary…” – Cemal Süreya
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