Meet Chef Fikri

Meet Fikri, a Kurdish chef from Turkey with more than 20 years of professional cooking and restaurant management experience. Fikri’s love of food began in childhood, growing up in a typical Southeast Turkish kitchen. Years later Fikri’s restaurant was among the top 10 in Istanbul out of over 13,000 restaurants in the area. In 2020 Fikri moved to Washington, DC – where heated words and political debate are better made with a full stomach.

What does Pera stand for? 

Chef Fikri spent over 20 years of his life in Istanbul. Pera is one of his favorite parts of the city – an ancient district that separates the old city (the historic peninsula of Constantinople by the Golden Horn) with the new. A neighborhood that by definition was fusion – home to Greeks, Europeans and Romans. It is that spirit, bringing together of old and new, emerges PeraEats – a culinary adventure for the DMV.

Istanbul, the city that never stops eating

The Inspiration Behind PeraEats