Forthcoming Dupont Circle restaurant Ankara will bring more to the table than Turkish food. Sure, there will be mezze, pides and döner kebabs, but the family behind the operation aims to transform the former Levante space (1320 19th St NW) into a Turkish cultural experience. “People like to be able to go to an ethnic restaurant that’s not a caricature,” marketing director Erin Gorman tells us. We snapped her with husband Utku Aslanturk and father-in-law Ejder Aslanturk, who make up a fraction of the family business, which includes relatives back in Turkey. “They send us things we can’t buy here, like a samovar for brewing Turkish tea,” Erin says. “If you want to do it right, you have to go there and get it.” Ankara is scheduled to open in mid-May.
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