Turkish Delights In Dallas, Mayor’s House by Selda is a Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant that employs two signature dessert chefs. BY SIMON PRUITT D allas Observer food editor Lauren Drewes Daniels gave three simple instructions for this assignment: 1. Go to the Mayor’s House by Selda, a Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant in Oak Cliff. 2. Order the dessert tray. 3. See what happens. A dessert trip to Selda on a weekday afternoon seemed like no tall order for a valiant Dallas Observer food writer. The restaurant’s original location is on Belt Line and Preston, but we visited the bigger second lo- cation just outside the Bishop Arts District. The place is elegant. Perched on a hill, it’s a large two-story historic house with a sprawling patio ripe for hookah. It looks like a beachside restaurant and was our selection for 2024 Best Mediterranean. On the menu, neither the dessert tray nor its items are listed; rather, there are simple instructions to “ask your server.” Upon hearing the question, the server came back with a massive, weighty tray with nine unique desserts, each a sizable portion. The true Selda dessert experience was not the job for a party of one. (Editor’s note: Simon called his editor panicked, asking if he was expected to eat everything on the tray. “Why yes, of course.”) I retreated and returned days later with cavalry in the form of four freeloading friends lured in by a “dessert party” text. In one fell swoop of gluttony, we tasted every dessert Selda offered, including a pistachio and strawberry cake we’d trust to fall into. There’s rice pudding and a San Sebas- tian (or burnt Basque) cheesecake. Even though Selda is a Turkish restaurant, not all the offerings originate from Turkey, like cheesecake, tres leches and profiteroles — French des- serts with cream puffs covered in chocolate sauce. Each item was fresh, meticulous, and rich, and clearly, it was not your typical day-old cake in a display case or half- baked (literally and figuratively) pie used only as a vessel to get whipped cream in your mouth. No, these had to be hand- crafted, with love, by artists. We had to know more. Meet Suleyman and Naki Pastry chefs Süleyman Sezer and Naki Ates are both from Turkey and, like most employees at Selda, primarily speak Turkish. With the help of general manager Max Texkol, who translated for us, we could chat with them about the most fan- tastic dessert tray in Dallas. Sezer and Ates grew up in Mersin, a port city in south Turkey, and began working at bakeries in their early teens. From an early age, their lives revolved around pastries due to pride and eco- nomic necessity for their families. There’s a pal- pable competitive nature when they talk about baking. Throughout the interview, they took turns showing photos on their phones, either of elaborate sweets they or others made. It made for a charming juxtaposition: two outwardly gruff Turkish men who care so deeply about the minutiae of pastries. The two have been in Dallas for a year but al- ready sense an excellent opportunity to be the catalyst for locals to learn about Turkish des- serts. But their acclimation at Selda wasn’t im- mediate: Texkol paraphrased the men’s thoughts on American food supplies, saying they were pleasantly surprised by the quality of chocolate but struggled to find oils similar to those they use in Turkey. Selda’s sprawling dessert tray Naki Ates, Max Texkol and Süleyman Sezer. Simon Puritt Simon Puritt DALLAS OBSERVER • CRAVE 2025 39
