Bi Nevi Deli is a whole-foods plant-based restaurant serving up entirely vegan dishes focused on using predominantly in season ingredients from organic & local purveyors. The restaurant was founded by Belkis Boyacigiller & Özge Şen in 2014 in Karaköy (now closed) and moved to the residential neighborhood of Etiler where it is currently situated. The menu serves up fresh, seasonal, good-for-you fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also sells a selection of cultured nut-based cheeses, yogurts, meat analogues, gluten-free crackers, breads, cakes & more. Bi Nevi Deli also offers their consciously crafted, super for you foods, for special events and celebrations as well as made to order cakes for festive occasions.

Since August 26th, 2014.

Belkıs

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area to Turkish parents, Belkis has been cooking since she was old enough to shape a cookie. After graduating from the University of Southern California, she moved to Turkey to get in touch with her parents’ culture and build a network she could call her own. She worked in the music industry, at Pozitif and Babylon, the fashion industry, at Beymen, and in 2011 she moved to Barcelona to attend IESE Business School. Upon graduation she completed the following certificate programs:

  • Plant-Based Nutrition, T. Colin Campbell Foundation’s program with Cornell University
  • Plant Based Professional Cooking, Rouxbe.com
  • Holistic Health Coach, Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) 
  • Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine, Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy 

Belkis subscribes to the belief that many diseases are preventable through diet and together with Özge, she is doing her part to create a place where Turkish people can discover the tasty, wonderful, colourful world that is plant-based cuisine.

Özge

Studied at TED Ankara College, and Economics at the METU, and our shop’s dear photographer.

High-tempo, corporate life until 35 – and ‘respect everything and everyone in nature’ mantra after 35.

“We make choices in our life, every day. Food is just one of them. Our awareness towards our daily choices, makes us more responsible towards everyone, everything and the nature around us.

Bi Nevi Deli is like a school for us, the more we question, the more we learn. As we learn, we thrive to do better. There’s a quote from Anne Marie Bonneau, the zerowastechef mainly on the Zero Waste movement, but can be used everywhere in our lives.

We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.