{"id":316126,"date":"2025-12-14T20:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/316126\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T20:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:29:09","slug":"the-long-awaited-nottingham-city-centre-restaurant-with-a-story-behind-every-dish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/316126\/","title":{"rendered":"The long-awaited Nottingham city centre restaurant with ‘a story behind every dish’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of work has been put into the new eatery\"ManagerManager Ozan Coban stands next to one of Baba’s handmade vistas that shows his home city of Istanbul(Image: Nottingham Post)<\/p>\n

The team behind a long-awaited new Turkish restaurant<\/a> in Nottingham city centre<\/a> are aiming to tell the stories of their homeland through dishes steeped in culture and history.<\/p>\n

Baba Turkish Restaurant has officially opened, bringing the flavours and scenery of the Mediterranean country to 3-5 Gedling<\/a> Street next to bustling Sneinton Market.<\/a><\/p>\n

The new eatery is owned by Nedjet Kaya, who also owns Murat Food Centre <\/a>on nearby Bath Street – which until 2022 had traded from the unit now occupied by Baba.<\/p>\n

It has taken a long time to get the ornately-decorated Baba ready, manager Ozan Coban explained, but for good reason.<\/p>\n

Ozan said: “All of the food we serve has a story behind it. It’s not just food – it’s a link to these cities, it’s their famous, signature dish.<\/p>\n

“We’ll tell them the history as well if customers – as they sometimes do – ask,” Mr Coban added, standing proudly next to a vista of Istanbul that is one of eight handmade displays on the venue’s walls.<\/p>\n

“They were all made by one man, it must have taken him a year. I have to stand by this one,” the 38-year-old, who moved from the Turkish capital to England in 2009, explained.<\/p>\n

\"BabaBaba on Gedling Street is impressively decorated (Image: Nottingham Post)<\/p>\n

The themed kitchen and bar is staffed by 26 new employees, from London, who are tasked with showing off the best of the varied cuisine.<\/p>\n

“Mainly our aim is to give people quality food with fresh ingredients,” Mr Coban said.<\/p>\n

“The town needed a proper Turkish restaurant, so we took that opportunity and thought let’s give the city our best.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people holiday in Turkey, eat the food there, but when they come back here they can’t find what they had.”<\/p>\n

The manager said Baba, which opened two weeks before its official opening ceremony, had already proved popular.<\/p>\n

“It has been very, very busy. We didn’t expect it to be this busy to be honest.”<\/p>\n

“This area is always very busy and Sneinton<\/a> Market always has something going on that draws people here.<\/p>\n

“We want to give people new food from different cities, most restaurants just do one fixed Turkish food and I think people get bored of it.”<\/p>\n

Baba’s menu comprises foods from eight different Turkish cities, with kebabs from Istanbul and Anatalya’s cold mezes likely to be favourites.<\/p>\n

Owner Mr Kaya had previously set up Lime Green Organic Vegan shop in the unit now packed with views of the Turkish coastline, Istanbul’s metropolis, and ornaments that allude to the country’s rich history.<\/p>\n

The vegan store in the spot had closed to a lack of demand, the businessman previously explained.<\/p>\n

Signs announcing the eatery that would eventually become Baba was “coming soon”<\/a> were put up in October 2023, but Mr Kaya delayed opening the restaurant until a looming student flats plan – which would have resulted in the demolition of the unit – expired.<\/p>\n

The restaurant was officially opened when the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Patience Ifediora, cut a ceremonial ribbon on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

“Restaurants are more than just places to eat, they are places where families gather, friendships are started, and where visitors discover the flavour of our city,” the city councillor said.<\/p>\n

“I am proud to see Nottingham as a destination for diverse and exciting cuisine. Baba restaurant I am sure will be a place where stories are shared, laughter is had and memories are made.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lot of work has been put into the new eateryManager Ozan Coban stands next to one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,105097,59,102305,125456,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-316126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-fooddrink","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-nottingham-city-centre","12":"tag-sneinton","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}