Honey Bee restaurant to offer kebabs, gyros
Ahmet “Lee” Dilber poses inside of the Honey Bee Healthy Kitchen, 909 S. Main St., which is expected to open Thursday serving Mediterranean and American fare, including gyros, shish kabobs, hamburgers and other sandwiches. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
The nation Turkey is one of the world’s largest producers of honey, and the the bees that produce it are legendary for their industriousness and efficiency.
Ahmet “Lee” Dilber is hoping his own hard work will make a hive of activity out of the new Honey Bee restaurant he plans to open Thursday.
A native of Izmir, Turkey, and an experienced chef, Dilber wanted to open a restaurant featuring a taste of the cuisine of the Aegean Sea along with some American favorites in the comforts of a small town.
“I don’t like the big city so much; I like the nature here,” the restaurant owner said, noting that he has worked in luxury hotels in Turkey’s third largest city, in Germany and in Miami, before landing in the Columbus and Dayton areas in pursuit of a opening restaurant of his own.
He found Darren and Johni Whitaker, who own the 909 S. Main St. building that was formerly Michael’s Pizza, through an Internet advertisement.
“A Mediterranean restaurant very risky,” he added. “In the big city no risk, but here maybe. For me, this is no problem.”
While the selections include hamburgers, sandwiches and french fries, the meat of the menu literally revolves around a different style of cooking.
Among the new kitchen equipment installed is a vertical rotisserie that will roast the lamb and beef mixture used in the various gyros along with a gas grill for cooking the traditional skewered shish kebabs.
But the key is choosing the freshest ingredients possible, Dilber said.
“The food is very important for me. The gyro, I make it here, no frozen,” he said, noting that all the meat comes from a local butcher.
The same is true of the yogurt and cucumbers he uses in his special tzatziki sauce and the freshly made hummus and sun-dried tomato sauces for dipping pitas.
“Here, I make it all fresh,” the chef said, including the honey-infused baklava and Mediterranean creme brulee on the dessert menu.
Read complete story in Saturday’s Examiner.
CLICK HERE to subscribe today!
WEB EDITION STARTING AT $9.50 FOR 5 WEEKS!