Dear Korsan friends
I’m very happy that I have found the time and the frame of mind to write a new blog … this is largely due to the fact that Claire and I have just enjoyed a wonderful holiday and our first without the kids ….. a treat we could get used to!
This blog is not about the good season we all had in Kalkan, nor the promise of an even better one ahead, but instead I would like to focus on new ideas, new ventures and the human factor which Korsan thrives on.
Our first new venture is kalkanwebcam.com This is an idea inspired by KTLN and telling you about it gives me the opportunity to thank John, the founder of Kalkan Turkish Local News, and Amanda, for all their wonderful work over the last 10 years keeping all Kalkan lovers up-to-date, informed and in-touch with Kalkan life. Their ‘labour of love’ has been greatly appreciated by so many, locals and visitors alike. I wish them a very happy retirement and look forward to the publication of John’s new project.
Kalkanwebcam.com will have seven webcams on live stream non-stop all year round. One camera will be above the Unlimited Holidays office in the old town, the second will be mounted above the Brave Tours office looking down the main street towards the centre of town, the third will be positioned on a Korsan property looking down over the town beach and into the harbour. The remaining four are Korsan’s existing webcams streaming live views from Korsan Koy, The Korsan Suites, the Korsan Meze and The Fish Terrace. We hope these windows on Kalkan will keep you connected when you are not here and will give you a quick Kalkan fix on a dull day. If all goes to plan we should be up and running before the new year.
Another new project has been the creation of Korsan Turkish Delight, which has a delicate rose flavour with a nut crunch … a surprisingly good combination! Some might think why bother when you can buy Turkish Delight everywhere, but it was the rarity of a really good quality Turkish Delight that led to the idea. For years customers have asked to buy the specially sourced delight we served in the restaurants, saying it was the best they had tasted and so different from the usual garishly coloured and over sweet versions, this led to us thinking we could create our own. We invested in the necessary equipment and set about experimenting. After a good number of failed attempts, by late May we started serving Korsan’s own Turkish Delight in the Meze and the Fish Terrace. We struggled with consistency at the beginning. One batch would be perfect followed by not such a great one, some batches had to be thrown away and some abandoned in the early stages but finally we got there and …. ‘the proof of the pudding ….’ customers once again started asking where we got our delicious Turkish Delight and could they buy some. We continue to tweak and perfect it.
I have always loved the human factor of my business. It is the team of individuals who work together daily who keep all the elements of the Korsan machine working. Some of us have been talking a lot recently about where the time has gone … it must be an age thing! The service industry is notorious for its high turnover of personnel and with a seasonal business like ours some change is inevitable … but in our case not too inevitable as many of our team have been with us for a very long time! ….
Ismet (Korsan Apartments) 23 years.
Mustafa (Head Chef of Korsan Meze) 20 years.
Serdar (Head Chef of Fish Terrace) 19 years.
Ozay and Ramazan (Fish Terrace) 18 years.
Yasar (Korsan Apartments) 18 years.
Salih the Rock (Pot Wash of Korsan Meze) 18 years.
Hacer and Mehmet Ali (Head of Housekeeping, Korsan Villas) 15 years.
Durali & Gulsum (Housekeeping Team, Korsan Villas) 13 years.
Hasan (Laundrette operator) 15 years.
Huseyin and Havva (Korsan Koy) 12 years.
I am not even mentioning the Memduhs, Ahmets, Davuds, Zafer & Huriyes of Korsan, as they are still in single digits … but only just!
Sadly, but proudly, we saw two Korsan youngsters, Kizmaz and Burak, head off to do their compulsory National Service at the end of the season. We wish them well and await their safe return.
Lastly, a bias note of appreciation to Patrick and Oliver (Korsan Team since birth!) for their enthusiasm, their interest in and their grip on the Korsan Group.
With greatly increased paperwork, ever evolving bureaucracy and the seemingly endless admin which is now core to running Korsan Ltd we have had to admit that we can no longer operate in a home office as a husband and wife team and so this winter Korsan will have its first office based crew with Ibo and Seda joining Claire and I on board as full time administrators.
For my next blog … Celebrity Chefs, Korsan’s 40 year anniversary and our planned expansion of Korsan villa services/catering operation.
Best wishes
Uluc