CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 27 Downtown restaurant owner offers weekly Mediterranean-style cooking classes By sara COOkE S elf-described "old-school and opinion- ated" chef and business owner Musta- fa Somar recalled answering questions on his restaurant's Facebook page back in December when, on a whim, he inquired via post if patrons would have any interest in attending classes focused on cooking Mediter- ranean food. Within 24 hours, the post had re- ceived over 1600 "likes" and 84 comments. And those numbers only grew. Since that initial enthusiastic response, Somar has held a class every Saturday to a crowd of hopeful cooks who are eager to learn. e menu changes from class to class and features between five and 10 items pertaining to a specif- ic theme. One week they cooked only Spanish food. An- other week was "all about chicken" and the various ways of preparing it, including salad, smoked, made into broth, poached, stuffed and grilled. One type of food you won't find in the classes or at the restaurant? Fried. Somar's background in Istanbul exposed food Sherefé Be a Chef at him to fresh vegetables, seafood and meats at a young age and he has carried his early love of flavorful, nutritious food with him to the present day. "I want to encourage people to go out of their comfort zones, try foods that are good for them and question what they're buying." He encourages shoppers to read product labels and taste foods and flavors that aren't characteristic to southern cooking, things like yogurt, olive oil and qui- noa – but that are delicious, fresh and healthy. "What's the worst that could happen?" he laughed, "You hate the food and never make it again." e cuisine Somar cooks in class mirrors what can be found at the restaurant – the freshest meats, seafood and vegetables, whole grains, with no unnecessary added ingre- dients or preservatives. ey are what Somar calls "crap." In fact, over 90 percent of the menu is gluten free. Local resident Nichole Lubert attended one of the first classes and is already signed up to go back for another. "Mustafa taught simple techniques like how to hold your fingers when you are chopping and how to properly wash

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