Restaurants from Past to Present: The Development of Restaurant Business in Turkey

Ebru KORKMAZ 

 

Summary

Restaurant business is an important issue in all countries with a rich food culture. With the development of food and beverage culture, the tendency to issues such as gastronomic tourism, local values, traditions and food in human life is increasing. Considering these developments, a conceptual study on restaurant management was carried out in this research. The aim of the study is to reveal the development of Brand Restaurant in Turkey. In this way, we will be informed about the phases Turkish restaurants go through and the simultaneity of following the developments in the world. 

 

In the study, first of all, the development in food culture was mentioned and information about the course of food culture in the world was conveyed. With the birth of the restaurant, the development of the restaurant business as a sector is explained and information about important dates, businesses and people in restaurant business is given. In addition, the currents affecting the service in the enterprises and the forms of service are also explained. In conclusion, it has been stated that the restaurant business in Turkey, which has followed a parallel course with the progress in the world, is a sector open to developments. 

 

LOGIN 

Eating is an action that a person constantly needs in order to survive. Therefore, food has been in the life of human beings since the first human who wanted to survive. When viewed through the filter of history, it is assumed that the first people tried to meet their food needs with plants and fruits they found in nature. It is estimated that their meat eating took place after they used tools such as stones and sticks to kill the animals that attacked them. In addition to these situations that can never be fully learned, it is a fact that there are important developments in the phenomenon of food. Finding fire is one of them. 

 

The cooking process was applied for the first time to the dishes that were collected or hunted with fire. As a result of archaeological studies, the first important developments related to the understanding of food were determined. In addition to assault tools, which are indicators of hunting, the remains and pictures of products such as spikes were found. From the late Neolithic period (6000-5500 BC), pottery remains, a great discovery for food culture, were found (Gürso 2004).  

 

The art of cooking, whose beginning was seen in Mesopotamia ( World Culinary History ), was first divided into two as Chinese and Anatolian cuisines. While Chinese cuisine influenced Japanese and Far Eastern cuisines, Mesopotamian cuisine influenced Anatolian and French cuisine. Anatolian cuisine influenced Egyptian, Greek and Roman cuisine, British cuisine in Rome, England Northern Europe and America (Mussman et al. 1989). As it is seen, every civilization has been influenced and influenced each other in food as well as in all cultural values.  

 

With the development of civilization and the determination of borders, each society has started to develop their own food and cuisine personalities. Sumerians, Egyptians etc. Many communities have created their own food cultures according to their living conditions, geography and opportunities. 

 

Morgan (2006) gave examples on the food culture of many races such as Greeks, Romans, Africans, Asians, while talking about the culinary differences between countries. Ancient Greeks BC. Some of these examples are the fact that they gave great importance to food from the 1000s and considered food as an art, and that food was even talked about by philosophers as much as subjects such as art, science and love. 

 

Collective eating culture has been valid in many periods in history. B.C. There are records that mass meals were eaten around the Swiss Lakes in the 5000s. The figures in the ancient Egyptian temples and tombs prove that people knew how to prepare and serve food in that period. In kingdoms and empires, mass food was given importance in order to feed the armies and give morale to the people of the city. It is known that thousands of people were given banquets during expeditions or festivities after a victory in the Roman Empire. In the history , the Ottomans also gave great importance to the culinary culture. It was seen as an organized institution with its order and rules. 

 

For example, the cooks were selected from the Novices and appointed, and the selected ones rose to the rank of Şakirtik (apprenticeship), Caliphate (journalist) and Mastery (cooking) respectively. Meticulous attention was paid to issues such as table arrangement, meal protocol, and food variety (www.annem Mutfakta.tv; Haydaroğlu 2003). 

 

Beginning of Restaurant Business (Classical Period) 

 

Although there is such a wide culture about food, the concept of restaurant did not appear until the 1700s. Until that day, whatever was served in inns and similar places serving food, a new understanding emerged that offered options to customers with the opening of the first modern restaurant by Boulanger (1765-1766) in Paris (Morgan 2006). At that time, the word restaurant was used for food or medicine that has the ability to restore power to a sick or exhausted person. The main task of restaurants, which is also used for broth bouillon and soup, is explained as healing, restoring and restoring the person (Spang 2007). 

 

The word restaurant, hung on the wall as a poster, has passed into the literature as facilities where food options will be offered to customers. The first famous restaurant with its name was opened in Paris in 1782 under the name Grand Toveme de Loundres. In this restaurant, the names of the dishes are listed and served at single tables at certain times (Maviş 2005). 

 

Brillat-Savarin (1949) stated that the emergence of today's restaurants was met by the people who came to France after the flamboyant period of Louis XIV, either by calling them in the rooms they stayed or by calling them from places that offer communal meals. 

 

Stating that this method, which is similar to today's catering service, can only be benefited by large groups because portion service is not provided, Brillat-Savarin said that a smart man who realizes that people usually need food at the same time and every day and that they have trouble providing it, is a person who is sure that they will be satisfied and find food. stated that the restaurant emerged because he thought that he could come to a place where this service was provided. In addition, he emphasized that restaurants have important advantages such as eating at a time convenient for them, knowing the amount to pay, having a meal option and providing great convenience to travelers.  

 

With the French revolution that took place shortly after the opening of the first restaurant, famous chefs in France began to become unemployed and immigrated to various countries of the world and started to open their own restaurants there. A significant number of those who fled France in 1794 took refuge in the United States, thus enabling the spread of restaurant culture in America (Walker and Lundberg 2001). 

 

With the beginning of the writing of the menus, new trends have emerged in the restaurant business. In the early nineteenth century, Antuan Careme ushered in the Grande Cuisine period. In this period, which was addressed to the aristocratic class, the presentation of many ornate dishes was based. Another name influencing the restaurant business is Auguste Escoffier. Focusing on hotel kitchens in these years, which is called the classical kitchen period, Escoffier created the Classic banquet menu (Denizer 2005). In the classic menu, which is quite complicated compared to today's menus, 10-14 kinds of food are served in one meal. 

 

Modern Era 

 

Ferdinand Point is another name that is mentioned by his name in France and has an important contribution to the restaurant business. Point, which was accepted as the architect of the concept of Modern Menu (Nouvelle Cuisine) in the first years of the 1900s, has opened “La Pyramide” for many years and has become the training place and legend of various cooks (Bourdain 2004). He made restaurant service more accessible by greatly simplifying the classic menu and improving simple menus consisting of three to six rows. 

 

In modern kitchens, meals consisting of seasonal dishes, in which the loss of nutrients and minerals in cooking are kept at the minimum level, have begun to be prepared. After many years of glamorous restaurants and extensive menus, cooks regained their status that they lost in the 1960s, limiting elaborate menus in restaurants to specializing in serving certain types of food and beverages (Gökdemir 2003).  

 

Another important event in the spread of restaurant business is the second world war. After the war, the food industry grew rapidly. Corporate nutrition is also important in this growth; because factories, offices and schools have established their own food service units. In addition to accommodation in roadside facilities, the demand for eating places has also increased (Maviş 2005).  

 

Another trend that has spread all over the world is restaurants that offer fast food service, starting from America. The sector, which started with the realization of service to automobiles in the 1930s, reached millions of sales figures in a short time. McDonald's, the most well-known fast food business, started to serve in 1937, started to increase its numbers from 1940 and gave its first franchise in 1952 (http://isoru.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/mc-donalds- how-founded/).  

 

Ritzer (1993; 19) explained the McDonaldization of businesses with the success of businesses. In addition, he explained that one of the important issues that bring success to businesses is the rationalization of Weber's bureaucracy approach with its applications. Schlosser (2004) explained its expansion in the market by presenting the children's menu. In the following years, many businesses such as Pizza Hut, Sbarro and Taco Bell were added.  

 

In the period when fast food consumption intensified, a trend emerged against it; slow food (slow food). Camillo (2006), in his doctoral thesis, examined the historical process of the development of restaurant business in America. In his work, after many developments that fit into daily life such as the restaurant business, which was adopted by the public in the 1900s and accepted as a way of life, the establishment of special menus, opening branches, gaining momentum, eating in the car, heavy food (slow food) supported in Italy in the 1970s. stated that the return to the form of food) emerged as a new trend. 

 

Carlo Petrini, the pioneer of the heavy food movement, stated in his book (2003), in which the approach is explained, that the concept of slow food emerged as opposed to fast meals prepared without pleasure. With its name and symbol (snail), the movement is literally the opposite of fast food and is based on the logic that good food should be enjoyed with pleasure. Petrini et al. (2001) stated that the slow food movement is a process that should take place not only at the table, but also starting from agriculture. 

 

Stating that a healthy and beautiful meal can be prepared in a certain period, the authors argued that a quality meal should be realized as it should be in various stages such as production, preparation and cooking before it comes to the table. Van Esterik and Caldwell's studies can be cited as examples of other studies showing an increase in the demand for slow food. While Van Esterik (2006) states that food is not eaten only to satisfy hunger, he draws attention to the increasing importance of local products and cooking methods for countries. 

 

Caldwell (2006) also stated that traditional dishes of countries are in demand within the scope of food tourism and emphasized that exotic and nostalgic dishes are expected according to regions. In short, it can be said that a new trend that prefers slow food and sees food as a pleasure has emerged with the increase in the number of studies and the fast food service, which has increased for a while in the food sector. 

 

Considering both the classical service restaurants and the fast service restaurants, it is seen that food and beverage services have become a very large sector today. Davis and Lockwood (1994) examined the developments in the food industry in the United States in their study and found that restaurants and cafes had a great increase in both numbers and earnings between 1980-1990.

 

It has been observed that while the per capita food expenditures have increased, the number of restaurants has also increased. Mill (2001) also stated the contribution of restaurant businesses to the country's economy in the United States, including 8% of the workforce in the United States, more than 10 million people are employed in the sector, 44% of food expenditures are made outside the home, and how the industry has grown. .  

 

Development of Restaurant Business in Turkey 

 

The food culture in Turkey is under the influence of Greek and Mesopotamian cultures. In Mesopotamia, vegetables such as onions, garlic, leeks and game animals are preferred and plenty of spices are used. In Greek culture, products such as fish, meat (goat-sheep-pig), fruit, olives and wine were consumed frequently (Bober 2003). In this period, it has been seen that the food eaten to sustain one's life continued over time as a result of pleasure, not necessity. Another civilization that gave importance to cuisine in Anatolian lands is the Hittites. In fact, it was seen that the cleaning rules to be followed in the kitchen were written on a tablet found in Boğazköy (Sandıkcıoğlu 2009). Anatolian lands, which served as a strait and harbored various civilizations, have had an impact on the food culture of many civilizations until today. 

 

Turkish cooking, which progressed in parallel with the developments in Europe, has progressed with the importance given to the food culture as mentioned above. Even in the Ottoman period, it was seen that different branches were formed in daily life such as traditional food cooks, kebab and meatball makers, stew makers. In the period, especially Istanbul became the capital of food culture as well as being the capital of many subjects.

 

Ali Eşref Dede's Food Treatise is an important source that gives information about the traditional dishes of Istanbul ( Istanbul Culinary Culture ) and food culture (Ünsal 1995-1996). In his study on Ottoman cuisine , Samancı (2006) stated that the culture created between the 15th and 20th centuries is known as Istanbul culture today. He also stated that a wide variety of materials were used in the Ottomans, who had various provinces, and that this was a characteristic of the period and took place in many cookbooks.  

 

Culinary culture gained great importance in the Ottomans. So much so that the rules, words, actions, and the formation of an internalized manners until what to eat and talk at the table during the preparation and consumption of the food indicates a fondness for food. The ratio allocated to food in the total budget is another proof of this situation (Artan 2006). In the 17th century, IV. The fact that the 11th of the 53 guilds parading in front of Mehmet is a cooks guild is also an indication of the importance given to this situation (Gürsoy 2004). However, although importance was given to culinary culture, food and cooks over time, the opening of a commercial restaurant in today's sense has waited until recently, and the food culture in Anatolia, which has a dynamic history, has continued to be dominated by the guild system and peddlers for many years.

 

The first restaurant to open in Anatolian lands was Victoria, which started its service in Galata, Istanbul in 1888, later changing its name to Adullah Efendi. In the restaurant where many products are sold at the same time, firsts such as separate seating for women, sales of liquor, and hosting elders were also realized. Continuing its business life under the current name of Hacı Abdullah, the developments in the food sector in the world have also affected Turkey.

 

Especially since the 1980s, with the spread of fast food, the food culture has also changed in this direction. The first McDonald's in Turkey started its operations on October 24, 1986. In the following years, businesses such as Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King started their activities. Businesses, which fluctuated with the crisis, still continue their sales intensively. In addition, domestic capital such as “Meşhur Sultanahmet Köftecisi” has been added to these franchises (Naseh 2002).  

 

İtalya’da başlayan slow food hareketi dünyada pek çok ülkede olduğu gibi Türkiye’de de duyulmuş ve çeşitli kitlelerce kabul edilmiştir. İtalya’ya bağlı bir birlik olarak Türkiye’deki yavaş yemek faaliyetlerinin yürütülmesine çalışılmaktadır. Convivium adı verilen bu birlikler İstanbul, Ankara, Aydın, Gaziantep, İzmir, Samsun, Kars, Çanakkale ve Iğdır’da faaliyet göstermektedir. İyi ve lezzetli yemek yapan, temiz ve doğaya zarar vermeyen ürünler kullanan ve doğru ve adil davranan işletmelere sertifika verilmektedir.

 

In short, although fast food service establishments have lost their former popularity, they continue their lives actively. With the increase in customer expectations and efforts in Turkey, the interest in the slow food movement is increasing. Therefore, restaurant businesses should take these developments into account and evaluate their future preparations by taking these developments into account.  

 

Current Regulation and Distribution of Restaurants 

 

Restaurant businesses in Turkey can be opened under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism or local administrations (municipalities). Restaurants affiliated to the Ministry are divided into two groups according to Article 26 of the Regulation on Food, Beverage and Entertainment Facilities (www.kultur.gov.tr): first class and second class. In second-class restaurants, the capacity of the dining hall should be at least fifty people, and the area reserved for the kitchen should have an area of ​​at least twenty-five percent of the service hall. Apart from this, the minimum qualifications sought in second class restaurants are as follows:

 

All volumes are furnished and decorated with materials suitable for their function and class, lighting, administration room, separate customer toilets for men and women, changing areas for personnel, sink, shower and toilet, material storage, cold cabinet or cold storage that can be opened from inside, in the kitchen ; cooker, preparation areas suitable for the types of food provided in the facility, a dishwasher with sufficient capacity for service sets, a service ladder or a montage if the saloon and service units are on separate floors. 

 

In first class restaurants, the capacity of the hall should be at least 150 people and it should have an area of ​​1.2 square meters per person. The kitchen size must be at least 50 square meters. In addition to these features, in addition to the features of the second class, the following features are sought: Entrance hall, separate service entrance connected to service areas, cloakroom with counter, music broadcasting, ventilation and air conditioning system, in the kitchen; The menu includes at least five of each of the oven, dishes and plates, hot storage equipment, dessert and cake preparation areas, hot and cold dishes and desserts. 

 

The number and distribution of restaurants is calculated with statistics made at the end of each year (www.kultur.gov.tr). Accordingly, as of the end of 2008, the distribution of restaurants in Turkey according to the regions determined by the ministry is shown in Table 1, respectively. In the classification, Istanbul is handled separately, without being included in any region. The remaining provinces were grouped as follows:

 

Western Marmara (Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli, Balıkesir and Çanakkale), Aegean (İzmir, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Manisa, Afyon, Kütahya and Uşak), Eastern Marmara (Bursa, Eskişehir, Bilecik, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, Yalova), Western Anatolia (Ankara, Konya, Karaman), Mediterranean (Antalya, Isparta, Burdur, Adana, Mersin, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye), Central Anatolia (Kırıkkale, Aksaray, Niğde, Nevşehir, Kırşehir, Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat) ), Western Black Sea (Zonguldak, Karabük, Bartın, Kastamonu, Çankırı, Sinop, Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya), Eastern Black Sea (Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Rize, Artvin, Gümüşhane), Northeastern Anatolia (Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt) , Ağrı, Kars, Iğdır, Ardahan), Middle East Anatolia (Malatya, Elazığ, Bingöl, Tunceli, Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari), Southeast Anatolia (Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Siirt) ). 

 

Considering the distribution of restaurants by regions, it is possible to say that the number of establishments in Istanbul, Marmara and Western Anatolia groups is quite high compared to other regions.  

 

Table 1. Classification of Food and Beverage Facilities According to Ministry Data 

Development of Restaurant Business in Turkey

 

CONCLUSION 

In its current sense, restaurant business is a sector that emerged in France in the 18th century and spread rapidly around the world. With the spread especially in France and America, the developments related to the restaurant business took place in these countries and were followed by other countries.  

 

Looking at the history of the restaurant business in Turkey, it is seen that it closely follows the developments in the world. He has been a good follower of other countries' restaurant understandings in many subjects, from the opening of the restaurant to the service methods. Although the franchise system came a little late to the country with the fast food wave, the gap quickly closed in the following years. Today, as in the rest of the world, old-fashioned food options increase their importance. 

 

Considering the richness of the food culture, it is expected that the research and development of restaurants will be carried out for many years. In this context, there is a need for studies on the regulation and improvement of restaurant businesses. 

 

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As the head chef Ahmet ÖZDEMİR, I see the source:

Ms. I sincerely thank Ebru KORKMAZ for her academic studies titled "  Restaurants from Past to Present " and wish them success in their professional life. It will definitely be considered as an example by those who need it in professional kitchens, related research and in the world of gastronomy.