19/04/2026
OTTO BITE – Turkish Halvah Café is a holistic brand and space design project developed by the multidisciplinary design studio Kitchen-ist. Located in Mall of İstanbul, the project reinterprets the culture of helvah and coffee through a contemporary design language.
During the Ottoman period, helvah and coffee were important rituals at the centre of social life. Palace helvahane kitchens functioned not only as production spaces but also as important spaces serving ceremonial purposes, and the master confectioner held the official court title of Helvacıbaşı. The first coffeehouse, opened in 15th-century Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire, gradually formed the foundation of public gathering culture, and coffee trade spread from this geography to the rest of the world. Kitchen-ist approached this historical background as the conceptual backbone of the design.
The project is structured around a “Modern Ottoman” approach. This strategy is also reflected in the naming: “Otto” references Ottoman heritage, while “Bite” introduces a more modern, light, practical and internationally accessible tone. Within this framework, traditional heritage and contemporary lifestyle modernity meet in the same context, and the spatial character of Ottoman and traditional Turkish architecture is reinterpreted within a contemporary composition.
The brand identity, from logo design to packaging details, was developed through the same spatial references and chromatic approach. Graphic design and interior design were conceived as a unified language. OTTO BITE is a holistic brand-space project that reframes cultural heritage through spatial abstraction and material continuity.
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