The first Meyhane of 2026 opens its doors with two lovely guests.

We are meeting in Kødbyen for an early dinner to honor an ancient delicacy: lakerda.

It is a great taste, prepared with large bonito fish, and, as you know, a dear element of our menu as always. This time, however, we want lakerda to be at the heart of this gathering, as an ancient preservation method and a memory shaped by salt, time, and the sea.

We are super lucky that Aylak Lakerda, a.k.a. Aylin Örnek, is coming from Istanbul. Aylin is the one and only lakerda maker of Turkey, and she is bringing her special lakerda. She will present and prepare it as we taste and learn more about it.

The historian Strabon, who was born in 64 BC in Amasya, wrote about salted bonitos. This shows that we have many stories to talk about and many windows to look through.

Tan Morgül is a journalist, writer, and researcher focused on fish culture, meyhane history, and Mediterranean food traditions. He served as editor-in-chief of İstanbul Dergisi and wrote a weekly, widely followed column on fish culture for Radikal for over two years. He is the co-author of İstanbul Meyhaneleri ve Balık Lokantaları and the author of Rakı and Fish: A Mediterranean Seafood Odyssey, which won a Gourmand Award in 2014, as well as the producer of the documentary İstanbul Meyhaneleri: Vuslatın Başka Âlem…

The chef Ece İçel grew up in Anatolia and has been based in Copenhagen for the past seven years. Rooted in the kitchens of their mother and grandmother, Ece’s cooking draws from Anatolian culinary traditions and reinterprets them through their experience in fine dining, including Michelin-starred kitchens such as Marchal at D’Angleterre. Currently, they are running a private dining business and leading a small kitchen in Nørrebro. Ece is looking at old books to discover old tastes, and of course with some Meyhane classics! 

Mine Burçkin shaped the visual atmosphere of the event, presenting works across the tabletops and walls in quiet dialogue with the space, and also designed the event poster.

Meyhane is presented by Kerem Soyyılmaz, an award-winning filmmaker who won Turkey’s most prestigious documentary film award, the Altın Koza, with his debut feature Searching for Rodakis. Kerem moved to Copenhagen seven years ago from Beşiktaş, Istanbul, and continues to write his second film while organizing cultural events between Istanbul and Copenhagen.

With the food, we will have some wines and our dear triple-distilled rakı on the table.