EVENTS | HAPPENINGS | CABANA MAGAZINE
Lunch Along the Silk Road: Preeminent Turkish collector, Ömer M. Koç, gathers friends, designers and tastemakers for an intimate lunch at his restaurant, Telezzüz in Istanbul, to celebrate a new collaboration between Cabana and The Levant Shop.
📍Telezzüz Restaurant, Istanbul
Tables at Telezzüz were set with LEVANT x Cabana Gobi tableware, atop Cabana's Asli tablecloth from the brand's Silk Road collection.
On a warm day in October, preeminent Turkish collector Ömer M. Koç hosted an intimate lunch at his Telezzüz restaurant in Istanbul, gathering design and culture luminaries to celebrate the launch of the LEVANT x Cabana collaboration.
Tables were set with beautiful handmade Gobi tableware - born from this partnership as part of Cabana’s Silk Road Collection - and draped with Cabana's new Asli tablecloths, serving up a feast of color, culture, and craftsmanship.
Telezzüz, with its vintage Orient Express posters lining the walls, provided a fitting backdrop for this occasion.
Founded by designers Süreya Köprülü and Naz Muessel, The Levant Shop grew from a desire to invoke "the rarity of an artifact", from the motifs of the ancient world to the legacy of the Silk Road. The creative pair spent a year researching the craft traditions of the Levant region, including the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon and Erzurum in Eastern Anatolia, meeting and collaborating with artisans along the way.
LEVANT x Cabana Dessert Plate
Ömer M. Koç and Süreya Köprülü
Telezzüz
Levant Founders Süreya Köprülü and Naz Muessel
Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu
Serra Türker and Serhat Tuncay
Nigâr Göksel and Felekşan Onar
The Levant Shop was born, resulting in designs, as Naz Muessel explained, that celebrate the “intermingling of East and West, the past and present”. This concept is reflected in the hexagonal forms and bright turquoise glazes of their Gobi pieces, inspired by ancient Chinese vessels traded along the Silk Road.
During the lunch at Telezzüz, founded by Ömer M. Koç, Süreya Köprülü highlighted the rich cultural history of the Levant region, emphasising that it is defined, "not by political or geographic lines, but by overlapping civilisations and cultural currents".
The stylish restaurant, with its vintage Orient Express posters lining the walls, provided a fitting backdrop for the occasion, echoing Istanbul’s long-standing role as a hub of intercultural exchange and crossroads of cultures. Guests, including Caroline Koç, founder of Haremlique and Selamlique, interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, and Özalp Birol, director of Istanbul's Pera Museum, enjoyed a plant-based seasonal menu featuring innovative reimaginings of Turkish classics.
Ömer M. Koç explained that he launched Telezzüz, "as a contribution to Turkish Gastronomy, the future of local producers, and the future of our planet", noting that plant-based fine dining is transforming the restaurant sector worldwide.
More than just a meal, the event fed the eye, palate and mind, as conversations flowed through history, artistry and culture – among friends, both old and new.
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