Turkish Delight
Ferah Fuses Texan And Mediterranean Flavors In Southlake.
A Turkish immigrant to Dallas in 2005, Burak Özcan always dreamed of honoring his culinary heritage and his homeland by opening his own restaurant. After spending years working his way up from kitchen to kitchen, Burak opened the doors to his very own gourmet restaurant in Garland in 2019. Not exactly the best timing, but even a pandemic couldn’t dampen the demand for his signature blend of Mediterranean and Texan flavors.
While many restaurateurs are still recovering, Burak has opened the second location of Ferah Tex-Med Kitchen right here in Southlake.
“I knew this would be a creative way to introduce more people to my homeland’s cuisine,” Burak says. “We often receive diners that have never tried Mediterranean food before, but because our dishes have a Texan twist, it’s more approachable than some traditional dishes are.”
Burak says the name Ferah means “open,” “bright” and “spacious” in Turkish, and guests certainly experience that when they step into the restaurant’s aqua-blue atmosphere. When curious diners settle in, they have a versatile menu to sift through, with over 20 different sharable dishes, entrees and desserts — the latter of which Burak calls ”the finale.”
Diners will have a hard time deciding between the restaurant’s eight different Tex-Med meze dips, which include chickpea hummus, charred salsa, fire-roasted baba ganoush and atom dip made with Turkish suzme yogurt. Those with larger appetites can enjoy a larger spread through the chef sampler platter, which includes bestselling appetizers like fried goat cheese, baconwrapped dates and jumbo lump crab cakes.
The entrees serve up even more refreshing Tex-Med flavor with the likes of beef tenderloin shish kabab and the seafood risotto. The latter is made with red snapper, salmon and blackened shrimp with wild mushrooms and asparagus. And thanks to the chef’s bar, which is specific to the Southlake location, guests can sit and watch as their meal is prepared right in front of them. By the time you get to the desserts, you’ll barely have any room to fit the Turkish coffee creme brulee served with wild berries.
“It’s been my lifelong dream to own a restaurant,” Burak says. “We believe every meal has the opportunity to be special and memorable, and we’re excited to serve and support the community where we live.”
