Back in 2012, The Garden Studio operated as a showroom on Városház utca, and then became a shop on Paulay Ede utca, selling Hungarian designer brands such as TOMCSANYI until this spring. Recently, the shop has become more diverse and colourful in function, with changes carried out by Dóri Tomcsányi herself and Merve Ilgım Deprem. In addition to hunting for treasure by amazing Hungarian designers, visitors can now look forward to coffee, brunch, cocktails and delicious Turkish treats all under one roof.
Dóri and Merve met through a mutual friend, and have been inseparable ever since. Opening a café has been a long-time dream for Merve, and her joining the business has allowed Dóri to bring a new spark into the shop. Together they've created The Garden Studio & Café, with the unique concept of slow fashion and slow food, where you can shop, eat, drink and attend various events.
The sewing shop formerly operating at
the venue is now gone for good, and the studio is on hold for about six
months, while they create and redesign the kitchen, the bar, the shop and the restaurant.
Each part of the process is carried out personally by Dóri and Merve, who do
all of the physical work themselves, trying to reuse whatever they could from
the previous layout.
Making the interior as sustainable as their products was
one of the most important aspects. The floral wall, for example, is decorated
with pieces from Merve’s birthday bouquet, and they’re planning to keep using seasonal
plants and flowers. Reopening at the end of the summer was no easy decision,
but they could barely wait to welcome people back into their new space. Sadly,
they need to wait a bit longer until they can run the shop as they’ve imagined,
but it will definitely be worth it.
Where fashion meets fine fare
“There’s a multitude of different plants growing in a garden, with a great diversity of things combined – tulips, cherry trees, wildflowers and knee-high grass – and this multifariousness is exactly what makes it so wonderful. It has a free and romantic atmosphere,” says Dóri, pointing out the relevance of the venue’s name. The store operates with the same ideas in mind, merging a shop, a café, a restaurant, DJ and other types of music, as well as a range of Hungarian fashion brands.
In addition to TOMCSANYI collections, the store also offers T-shirts and ceramics by YöLANDIA, products by SUSU Keramika, T-shirts by DAIGE, unisex clothing by GRANDPA, jewellery by Franciska Németh, as well as a few items by one of Dóri’s most recent students, Valentin Szarvas. The colourful repertoire puts talented Hungarian designers into the spotlight, with brands that the team has a personal admiration for.
Alongside Hungarian fashion, Turkish flavours are also defining elements in the store, thanks to Merve. In addition to food, she also wants to introduce the warm hospitality so common to Turkey, and which comes completely naturally to her. The menu is diverse and multicultural, with a Turkish, an Italian and a vegan chef working together to create the exclusively vegetarian and vegan dishes.
In Turkey, people like to get together with the entire family for brunch, bonding over large amounts of shared food on the table. Merve’s intention was to reflect the same vibe here as well, with mostly brunch and mezze options available. She learned how to cook from her family, and has worked with the in-house chefs to come up with authentic and delicious Turkish recipes.
We sampled the Oriental original with
Gouda cheese and the Oriental spinach with hummus (each 2,100 HUF) from the
breakfast selection. Both are served inside something called simit, which is a ring-shaped
pastry with sesame seeds, typical to Turkey. There, they usually sell it as a
simple bread, and you most probably won’t find simits stuffed with walnuts and
avocado on the streets of Istanbul, like you do here (Oriental avocado, 2,600
HUF).
They also have a hearty brunch option for two, called Turkish breakfast
(7,000 HUF), a selection of olives and cheeses with simit, shakshuka, sweet and
savoury spreads, vegetables and Turkish coffee.
Our choice of mezze was the muhammara, served with a pepper dip, walnuts and molasses. Many of the dishes here combine Turkish flavours with the features of other cuisines, northern and southern European, alluding to the eclectic and modern approach.
Mezze and rakı are inseparable in Turkey, thus this drink is a must-try here, too. Authentic Turkish sweets also feature, such as the pumpkin dessert (990 HUF) with tahini.
They offer classic cocktails plus several using their own recipes. We recommend trying their signature Tomcsanyi, the result of an inside joke but encompassing an exciting combination of Jägermeister and Malibu. To comply with the most recent restrictions, you can order any of their delicacies – except for the breakfast options – through Wolt.
According to the original concept, The Garden Studio & Café would have been a place to where you can grab a few cocktails while enjoying jazz concerts or DJ sets on Saturdays, followed up with a hearty brunch the next day. Unfortunately, this is impossible for now, but you can still order their cocktails for weekend cheer, as they come up with their own takeaway bottles.
The Garden Studio & Café
District VI. Paulay Ede utca 18
