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Regular readers of Time Out will know what we are lowkey obsessed with Mangal II.
And now we can all have a little piece of the much-loved Dalston-based Turkish restaurant in our own homes, as they're releasing their debut cookbook. Hooray!
Mangal II: Stories and Recipes will be published on October 10 and has been written by brothers Ferhat Dirik and Sertaç Dirik, sons of the restaurant's original owner Ali.
Ferhat is the restaurant's current managing director, and chef Sertaç totally revamped the menu after the pandemic, jazzing it up by way of his fine dining training in Denmark, to help save Mangal II from going under. And it worked. It's now one of London's most talked-about places to eat, scoring a much-deserved place on our 50 Best Restaurants in London list.
Sertaç left Mangal II at the end of 2023 with a view to opening his own place. He is currently to be found popping up at restaurants across the globe, including a recent residency at 107 Wine Shop and Bar (formerly P. Franco) in Clapton.
The book will include 60 recipes from Mangal II's history, since opening in 1994, as well as from its former site, Mangal 1, around the corner, which Ali opened in 1989. Early dishes will include ezme, grilled onion salad and Ali Dirik's lamb kebabs, while more contemporary Mangal 2 classics will feature mackerel in fried vine leaf, chickpea fritters with brown crab and tahini tart with apple butterscotch and cherry mahlep.
Rapper and famous fan of Mangal 2 Action Bronson will write the foreward to the book. Which is fun!
Read our big interview with Sertaç Dirik here and check him out in our quest to find London's hottest chef here.
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