PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 71 the logo. I love the details.” Oklava Cafe boasts an impressive selection of Turkey’s two most popular desserts: baklava, a classic and labor-intensive pastry made of 40 layers of phyllo dough and traditionally filled with pistachios and honey; and Turkish delights (or lokum), a jelly candy flavored with everything from grape or pomegranate juice to rosewater and dried fruits and nuts. In order to offer customers 20 different varieties of each dessert, they decided to have the delicacies made fresh by a popular store in Istanbul and shipped directly to the cafe. “It gives us the opportunity to share a lot of variety with people and use authentic Turkish ingredients and recipes,” Elif says. “Otherwise, it would be hard for us to keep up.” With so many choices, Oklava Cafe’s expansive display case is visually stunning, full of treats of different colors, shapes and baklava time @oklavacafe 205 University Avenue, Palo Alto variations. “Baklava and Turkish sweets connect me to my history, my family and happy times when something is being celebrated,” she says fondly. Other items on the menu include Turkish coffee, borek (a cheesefilled pastry), pide (a pizza-like flatbread) and Turkish bread pudding. A beautiful breakfast platter comes with sesamecovered simit, a bread similar to a pretzel, that’s served with clotted cream and honey, olives, tomato and cucumber salads, plus cheese, Turkish pastrami and a hard-boiled egg. “With the food, I wanted to keep it authentic and exactly like they serve it in Turkey,” Elif explains. “There are no extra flavors or special changes for the American palate.” She also plans to make additions to the menu, including more lunch-focused fare, to accommodate their allday operating hours. Despite the challenges, Elif’s dream of creating a lovely, comfortable space reminiscent of what she grew up with has finally come true. It wasn’t just something she wanted for the community, but also for herself and her family. “There are always obstacles with everything, but it paid off. All that hard work turned into something good. That’s the important part.”
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