Every Tuesday night on Santa Barbara’s East Gutierrez Street there’s a bit of Turkish delight in the air, served up by chef Efe Onoglu and his Aegean NeoTaverna Sofra experience.

At his Chef’s Tasting-Menu “Sofra” dinners (Sofra means like, big family meal-time table), Onoglu puts together unique Eastern Mediterranean dishes that we’d never heard of, but couldn’t get enough of.

In fact, it’s a major act of discipline to not fill up on the starter course options, which feature unique flavors like Cauliflower Tiganites, Celeriac Tzatziki and Dolmades stuffed vine leaves.

“Some are in it for the money, making the same thing every day,” Ologlu shared. “My chef-ing is not like that.”

These Tuesday night dinners can run three hours long, feature six or seven courses, and are limited to 14 guests, so they often sell out. Reservations are required, and we advise making them well in advance.

Good news, though, if you can’t make a Tuesday night, you can catch Onoglu doing a pop-up on Wednesday nights at Draughtsmen AleWorks in Goleta, where he offers Mediterranean “street food with style” — lamb schwarma, seared Halloumi cheese and Fattoush salads, for example.

Onoglu, who grew up in Turkey watching his grandparents prepare traditional Turkish recipes, decided early on that his degree in BioInformatics was nice, but not where he wanted to go with his life.

So he packed up and headed to Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in South Africa. Why South Africa?

“Because that was where chef Antoine Carême (considered the “father of grand cuisine”) spent much of his time,” Onoglu explained.

“French cuisine is the heart of cooking, and my first second-language was French, but all my chef friends told me the real education would be in Capetown, not Paris.”

After graduation, he worked a bit in South Africa and Turkey, and finally moved to Washington, D.C.  And there he got his break when José Andrés called.

“They were starting a Turkish concept called Zaytinya,” Onoglu recalled, and he jumped at the chance.

“José Andrés encourages his chefs to express their memories and life experiences through their food. He was definitely the biggest influence on my cooking.”

After a few years with the Andrés organization, he fulfilled a lifetime dream to move to Southern California, and found his way to Santa Barbara.

“The Ritz-Carlton Bacara offered me a job to help reopen Angel Oak after the pandemic,” Onoglu told us. “But after a while the big concept thing didn’t satisfy me anymore.”

So he left to open his first pop-up, and then in January 2023 he added the Aegean Sofra.

Where does this love of cooking come from?

“My mother loved to cook, and we loved big family dinners,” he said, adding that his grandparents cooking together is a fond memory.

“The way I choose the dishes to make is always sentimental,” he said. “For example, my mother’s favorite dish is branzino. And she has green eyes. So when I make it I add some basil to match her eyes.”

Every mother should have a son like this.

Sourcing is definitely local.

“I use a lot of farmers market vendors, plus Kanaloa Seafood for local fish,” he said.

“I like knowing my suppliers, and knowing they care as much about the food as I do.”

He changes the Sofra menu seasonally, but also keeps the Wednesday night pop-up menu fresh.

“Regulars know that we change the menu all the time,” he said. “They don’t get bored, I don’t get bored.”

Some of his Aegean Sofra guests, “have eaten every single menu I’ve made in the past two years,” he told us with a big smile.

“I feel the best version of me is when I’m cooking this kind of food for this kind of audience,” he added.

Future plans for a permanent restaurant?

“I don’t want a big operation,” he replied. “My near-term goal is to find a kitchen I can use full time, offer the Sofra once a week, continue my catering business, maybe a couple of other ideas like a Turkish breakfast on Sunday mornings.”

Having experienced both his Sofra and the Wednesday night “street food,” we could definitely get up early on Sundays for that.

Locals Only

When you go to a “Sofra” dinner, GO SLOW and save room for later dishes. We were incautious, and so stuffed afterward that we couldn’t eat for two days.

When You go

• Aegean Sofra is located at 619 E. Gutierrez St. in Santa Barbara. Email info@aegeanneotaverna.com for reservations.
• The pop-up at Draughtsmen AleWorks, at 53 Santa Felicia Drive in Goleta, is open Wednesdays from 5 p.m. until the food is gone.

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