My grandfather, whose name I carry with pride, is one of the first industrialists of Turkey who founded the Beybi Glove factory in 1949.  You cannot imagine how surprised we were when my innovative and nature-loving grandfather said “we will produce walnuts” at the age of 89. As a family, we were proud of our industrialist identity, but we did not understand farming at all. Although we persistently opposed him, he won, and we started planting hundreds of walnut trees. First Tokat / Erbaa, then Çanakkale / Biga, then Keşan, Ezine, we were making serious investments in walnuts, almonds, rice, and olives. 

One day he said, “Eggs are like diamonds, you must know from whom to buy them”. “Eggs are like diamonds, you must know from whom to buy them”. He heard this motto when he went to New York in the 1950s and memorized it. He was 94 years old when he ordered a coop and 1000 chickens for our land in Kilyos in October 2018. To our great surprise, on November 9, 2018, we placed the chicks in their new home. His goal was not to be a simple egg farmer, but to provide people with “GOOD eggs from chickens that live with the right energies and are fed organically”. 

 When our new guests in Kilyos started laying eggs a few months later, we had no idea and no experience on how to market these eggs. 700 eggs a day was no joke. On January 30, 2019, my father and I went to Kilyos and visited the chickens for the first time. We grabbed a few eggs hot and cracked them on the stove and enjoyed them. When we shared our photos and videos on social media, our marketing problem was solved in an instant. On February 5, the cart leaving Kilyos was already delivering diamonds worth of eggs to 70 families. 

The neighborhood was in search of “good eggs”. The good news spread quickly and our coop numbers started to increase. We were not going to sell to the markets. Despite the high cost, we insisted on reaching the consumer directly with the “Farm to Table” approach. There were also people who came from Kilyos. In fact, when a gentleman who came to Kilyos from Beykoz said that these eggs were good for his wife who had cancer, I knew that my grandfather's vision of a healer had come true. 

March 17, 2019: My father and brother Jason and I went to Amsterdam to visit a cafe that only cooked eggs and decided to bring this concept to Istanbul. 

March 27, 2019: I was proud to cook an omelet with my own hands for my mother who was visiting from New York.

In the same year, I was going to similar cafes in the USA and Europe and discovering special flavors. With an experienced team, I created a menu with specially prepared recipes and started supplying. In December 2019, I opened YMRT Garden in the garden of Sun Plaza in Maslak and started selling O'Bun and Grilled Cheese made from eggs. A few months later, Covid exploded and I had to return to takeaway. In April 2021, I was working on the decoration of my second café in Arnavutköy. The menu was getting richer, our satisfied customers were recommending each other and expanding our circle. 

Meanwhile, the walnut and almond trees were starting to ripen. Our product range was increasing and we were delivering properly grown products to the consumers. Orange, lemon, tangerine and bergamot from Antalya were added to the list. We had started planting avocado trees. The olive oil we obtained from our new investment, Geyikli olives, was of pharmaceutical quality. We had become farmers. 

Healing eggs were sold spontaneously. I carried the Sunday Brunch concept to every day of the week. I was enjoying the pleasure of delivering the right food to people in the comfort of their homes and offices. In February 2022, when my grandfather passed away in his 98th year, I took over the flag. I am happy to continue his vision with his determination and to deliver the right eggs and other products to people, and I continue on the road with a wonderful team...

ALBERT LEVI