The vegetarian menu at Sipeos includes flatbreads, salads, and meze plates.
Hardy Wilson
Mediterranean food has often just been a synonym for Greek, with perhaps a bit of Italian or Spanish cooking thrown into the mix. However, several fine-dining restaurants that recently opened in our area have shifted the geographic epicenter of this popular cuisine by tapping into the flavors of Turkey, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Alora Social is a case in point. Yes, the new upscale coastal Mediterranean restaurant at City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon offers standards such as hummus and spanakopita. That hummus, however, is spiced with a Yemeni zhug sauce, while the spanakopita is served with labneh, a Middle Eastern dip staple. Pastas and souvlaki share the menu with Moroccan pepper–marinated filet mignon, za’atar-crusted salmon, and even kumpir, Turkish streetcar–style baked potatoes “fluffled” with butter and Tulum cheese.
Seafood and pasta dishes at Alora Social bring the Mediterranean coast to San Ramon.
Luis Plaza
Sipeos in Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza has a similarly broadened spectrum and draws influence “from across the Mediterranean basin,” say co-owners Dhruma and Hetal Shah. Such references include herbs and cheese from Greece and Italian-style flatbreads, but also “the warm spices and grains of Morocco and Lebanon” and Turkey’s “vibrant spice blends and savory meze traditions.” A Lebanese-inspired fattoush salad features braised beets, cucumbers, and roasted peppers dressed with a sumac vinaigrette, while Moroccan spices, zhug pesto, creamy za’atar, and shawarma seasoning are among the ingredients enlivening the pinsa flatbreads. These same Eastern regions also tend toward using bold spices to highlight vegetables and grains, particularly important given Sipeos’ all-vegetarian menu.
“We wanted to highlight these flavors because they offer depth, warmth, and richness—all without relying on meat,” say the Shahs. “Eastern Mediterranean food naturally centers around hospitality, sharing, and balance, which align perfectly with our mission.”
Bódrum Mezze and Cocktails’ Konya meat flatbread is three feet long and topped with seasoned ground lamb.
Mustafa Gazioglu, Gülbahar Dogru (Photo Assistant)
Of course, this flavor infusion isn’t entirely new in the East Bay. Lokanta and Oasis in Pleasanton both identify as Mediterranean while incorporating some Turkish, Persian, and other Eastern influences. Similarly, at his popular Elia restaurants in Pleasanton and Walnut Creek, Turkey-born owner Fatih Ulas sprinkles hints of his native country onto the menu, but generally leans toward more familiar Greek fare. Not so at his latest project, Bódrum Mezze and Cocktails, which leans unapologetically into coastal Turkish cuisine. That inspiration is most evident in the restaurant’s extensive selection of meze small plates, the Turkish equivalent of Spanish tapas, many of which are displayed behind glass at the front counter. Customers can dine on manti potato beef dumplings, spring rolls with Turkish pastrami, and 21-day-aged salt-cured bonito (lakerda), as well as calamari, dolmas, and watermelon feta.
“I’ve opened many other restaurants and concepts that had Turkish influence, but I didn’t really label them that,” Ulas says. “With this, I wanted to bring out my culture with the name, food, style, service: everything.”
Enjoy ocean-centric delicacies like grilled octopus at Meyhouse.
Joseph Weave
He believes the dining clientele in the East Bay is now more open-minded to such a move, which is seemingly backed up by the fact that another Turkish restaurant, Meyhouse, is opening soon in nearby San Ramon, where it will replace Dumpling Time at City Center Bishop Ranch. In perhaps the best evidence of Mediterranean cuisine’s expanding horizons, even the eastern Caucasus region is getting some love. Bistro 4293 on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue serves Azerbaijani specialties such as dushbara, fried dumplings filled with ground beef, and khan plov—tender beef mixed with saffron rice, dried fruits, and caramelized onions wrapped in a crispy lavash crust—from chef-owner Anar Usubov’s homeland. The menu, however, is still anchored by classic dishes including a hummus trio, grilled octopus, and lamb chops, while the website’s most prominent description labels it as a “Mediterranean restaurant and bar.” One step eastward at a time.
Dining and Cooking