Veteran chef brings Turkish dishes to student neighbourhood

Huseyin Temiz makes sure to never get lost in the sauce. It’s a point of pride that the food he serves at his restaurant is simple, light on sauce, and healthy.

“[We] don’t have any chemical in [my kitchen]. We don’t have any sauce inside my kitchen. We don’t have any ketchup, mayo,” he says.

When he goes to other restaurants, he is often amazed by the amount of sauce. 

“There is too much sauce coming. I don’t understand why [so much] sauce.”

Instead, he aims to serve plain dishes, focusing on the meat, rice, chicken, and bread staples.

Temiz, 57, has been working in kitchens for 45 years. Temiz and his family moved to Canada from Ankara, Turkey, in 2010.

He has owned and operated a handful of different restaurants since. In Halifax, Temiz had a hand in Turkish Delight on Spring Garden Road, Cafe Istanbul on Duke Street, and in 2023, Temiz ran a previous iteration of Chef in The Kitchen, which was on Agricola Street before he moved to Lemarchant Street, near Dalhousie’s Studley campus.

The restaurant’s name reflects his attitude toward his menu — simple and to the point.

“I like the Chef in The Kitchen. I am chef, every time work in kitchen,” he says. “Good name.”

Temiz says he gets up early to buy organic vegetables for his restaurant. He acknowledges they are more expensive than non-organic produce, but the price is “not problem” and “is natural food” his customers come for.

Maya Lewis, a fourth-year Dalhousie student, says Temiz “seems to really love his business.”

“Every time you go in, he has a big smile and he’s all excited,” Lewis says. “He makes really good food and it’s filling, so although it is a little extra money, it lasts you a while.”

Gazaleh Hamzeh, a student at Bishop’s University who is visiting Halifax, says that Temiz’s food tastes authentic.

“I’ve been in Turkey before and it tastes like Turkish dishes. … The bread was very similar, when you go to buy bread here, like the naan, it doesn’t taste the same.”

He says his simple cooking style is crucial to Turkish cuisine.

“Turkish food is very clean, very natural. Just the olive oil and butter and the salt, black pepper and green pepper, not is it too much spicy inside,” said Temiz.

Chef in The Kitchen is located near the intersection of Lemarchant Street and Coburg Road, in LeMarchant Towers.

He serves traditional Turkish dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including Turkish coffee, menemen, kofte meals and baklava. His wife and daughters can often be found helping him in the kitchen and taking orders from behind the counter.