Ex-Tulum chef Murat Ovaz to open Yagiz Turkish restaurant in South Yarra

Melbourne's Middle Eastern dining boom is alive. Mastic ice-cream has hit Northcote at Cuppa Turka, Israeli pita party Miznon is electrifying the city and Turkish chef Murat Ovaz, who helped Coskan Uysal launch Tulum in Balaclava last year, is opening his own contemporary Turkish venue, Yagiz, in South Yarra mid-October.

Designer Archier is behind the fitout of the former retail site on Toorak Road, with a bar area and dining room featuring a huge 22-seat bronze communal table at its heart.

The menu will be split between bar food and a la carte with a five- or six-course feed me option. Ovaz says the pitch will be a little more casual than Tulum's elegantly tweezed plates. At the bar: sardine kofta ("a kind of meatball using sardines – a little snack from the Black Sea region where I grew up"), Turkish street snacks such as veal tongue sandwiches and bazlama, a rustic Turkish flatbread.

In the dining room he'll be doing charcoal-grilled poussin (baby chicken), whole calamari stuffed with Ezine cheese (a sheep, goat and cow's milk cheese aged for a year in salt), and dishes made from whole lamb carcasses which Ovaz plans to break down regularly into tartars and slow-roast shoulders.

"With 24 hours notice, guests will be able to order a whole lamb menu," says Ovaz, who will do the same with suckling pigs once he's up and running.

Wines and cocktails will be Turkish, alongside French and Australian bottles from a list compiled by RACV Club's Christian Maier.

Yagiz will open mid-October for lunch Fri-Sun, dinner Tue-Sun at 22 Toorak Road, South Yarra, 03 9525 9127, yagiz.com.au