A cult Turkish coffee shop is set to open its first UK cafe in Twickenham this spring.
Ali Gokhan, 41, is the owner of Karabatak Coffee, which has two locations in Istanbul and Bodrum.
The cafe, which has become a cult favourite of travellers and celebrities, has featured in Condé Nast Traveller, TripAdvisor and The New York Times.
Gokhan hopes to open the cafe in early April at the site in East Twickenham, serving Turkish coffee, cocktails and pastries.
“When we opened our first coffee shop in Istanbul, our very first month, Ben Affleck and the Argo crew came in for coffee and ended up basing themselves in our place for two weeks,” he said.
“That was our first lucky moment.”
Steven Tyler, of Aerosmith fame, also visited the shop in 2014, sharing photos on his Instagram.
The site was previously home to Orpheus Taverna, a Greek restaurant which had been a feature on the high street for 40 years.
A note posted on the window from the Orpheus Family reads: “We are deeply grateful to our loyal customers, friends, and neighbours who have shared so many meals, celebrations and memories with us over the decades.
“We will always cherish the memories and relationships made along the way.”
Gokhan is keen to carry on its Mediterranean heritage. “It will be a Mediterranean coffee shop, it won’t be like the all-white ones you see everywhere, we want to bring something different,” he said.
“We can’t make it a copy and paste franchise, so each and every shop we open has to be one of a kind.”
The cafe will stay open late, and serve three types of coffee – a Turkish roast, a Viennese bean and a London blend.
Karabatak Twickenham will double up as a bar, with Gokhan’s love for eighties music inspiring the names of its house cocktails.
Gokhan moved to Twickenham a year ago with his family and has built up a network of local Turkish families and enjoys the “local life” and peacefulness of the area since moving from Turkey’s capital.
“We have a strong Turkish community in the Richmond area, and in the last 10 years lots of close friends of mine have moved here – so I thought, ok let’s make a place for us,” said Gokhan.
He hopes the cafe will become a local hub, drawing visitors across Richmond Bridge and giving the high street a fresh chapter.
Featured image credit: Murat Ates
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