Bergama: Breakfast @ Yeni Gün

This morning, the three siblings and Mui set off early with Murat in the driver’s seat. Our destination was the modern-day town of Bergama … home to the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Pergamum.

For this outing, we were joined by Hakan and Serenay, my nephew and niece-in-law. Convoying with them allowed Deniz to jump into their car so that we could all enjoy the nearly 70-mile ride to Bergama in comfort.

First on the agenda was breakfast at a small eatery, appropriately named Yeni Gün [New Day].

Everyone in our party — except for us — had been to this historic breakfast place before. Thus, they knew that the first thing to do on arrival in Bergama was to pick up some fresh-out-of-the-oven gevrek [sesame covered bread rings] from a bakery before continuing on to the no-frills breakfast place.

The owner of Yeni Gün is known as Eşref Amca [Uncle Eşref] to one and all. A veteran of the Korean War, I estimate his age to be around 93 … based on a 2020 newspaper article in which he was said to be 90 years old at the time. For the last 76 years, he’s been operating this breakfast place, which — as the story goes — was established by his grandfather some 120 years ago. As old as the place is, its location on top of the Tabak Bridge — which was constructed during the reign of Hadrian (AD 117-138) — is older by leaps and bounds.

When we arrived, Eşref Amca was dressed in his “uniform” — a dark grey suit — and seated in a corner of the kitchen, overseeing everything. His age now precluding him from actively participating in the breakfast service as he once did, he is not able to converse much either these days … though he did appreciate Mui stopping by to say hello.

Since the tables on the sidewalk were all occupied, we had no choice but to sit inside — simple marble-topped tables and wood chairs with thin pillows adding a bit of comfort … walls decorated, at the insistence of his daughter-in-law, with photos of Eşref Amca taken with famous people who have stopped by to enjoy his hospitality and breakfast over the years. A few newspaper articles telling his story and a letter from the South Korean President thanking him for his service during the Korean War were also framed and displayed on one wall.

There is no menu per se. Nor is this a place for the “serpme kahvaltı” for which Turkey is renowned … a tapas-style breakfast with so many plates that it is hard to see the top of the table once everything is delivered. Yes, everything was served in small individual plates here as well, but the breakfast consists of a limited, pre-fixed selection of dishes.

As soon as we sat down, one of the servers immediately showed up to serve us. Before we knew it, the table top was strewn with plates of clotted cream and honey, local cheese and butter, green and black olives, and a hard-boiled egg. A basket of fresh bread soon followed … though we only nibbled on it since we had brought gevrek with us. Turkish tea was the beverage of choice all around. Tomatoes and cucumbers and fried eggs were available for the asking … as was unpasteurized fresh milk, boiled hot.

A simple breakfast … but everything was of top quality.

Our tummies sated, we walked from Yeni Gün to where Murat and Hakan had parked the cars. Thus giving us an opportunity to see the ancient bridge on which it is situated.Read more