(WSB photos)
It’s been a little over a year since we first told you the original 25-year owner of Ephesus planned to reopen the restaurant at 5245 California SW. Now, Hasan Ocak (above) has set his reopening date: This Wednesday (March 5). And there’s a new name: Efesis. More on that in a moment. We visited him there this morning to find out details he hadn’t set during our previous conversations, and to see inside the space.
Hasan was there with his head chef, Huseyn, who told us he had worked there both with Hasan and with the operators who leased the space until a year and a half ago. Huseyn says his departure from their employment is when they changed the menu to a Greek emphasis; now Turkish food is back.
The menu is undergoing final work right now but here’s a look at what’s been roughed out. (Click the link to see our image showing the main dinner menu; they’ll also have appetizers nightly from a rotating list including hummus, eggplant salad, spinach dip, roka salad, haydari yogurt (with cucumber and dill), sauteed mushrooms, and more.
About the name: Hasan says they’re changing it to avoid issues regarding the previous operators, who have been running a venue called Ephesus in Pioneer Square. Efesis, he says, is Turkish and is pronounced the same way. The signage will change.
One thing that won’t: When the weather warms up, the restaurant will enjoy two floors of deck space, both looking toward Puget Sound – here’s the second-floor view:
Efesis will be open 4 pm-10 pm, nightly except Mondays. Hasan says with a big smile that he eventually plans to have two chefs and two assistants – including him.
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