Queens Restaurant Lokanta in Astoria Gets Two Stars in New York Times Review - Eater NY

"Chef Orhan Yegen has opened nearly 20 Turkish restaurants over the past two years, and now, he’s brought a two-star stunner to Astoria, Times critic Pete Wells writes. The chef’s Turkish cuisine shines at Lokanta, a newly opened restaurant in Astoria, from the simple starter salad to the final dessert, Wells says. The critic says it’s the soups, braises, and stews that set the restaurant apart from its Turkish counterparts, whose menus tend to focus on grilled meats. At Lokanta, the go-to order is a stew like the kelle paca, in which the boiled sheep’s head has given way to several textures of meat, from chewy to lean. As for desserts, those are a treat, too: Go for the butternut squash, he writes, baked in its own juices with nothing but sugar. Two stars." - Carla Vianna