By John Custodio

SUNY Oswego alumnae, adjunct professor and Turkish immigrant Sevgi Evron Familo has opened Tatlim Bakery, serving traditional Turkish desserts alongside other classic items in downtown Oswego.

Born in Zonguldak, Turkey, Evron Familo immigrated to the United States eight years ago after marrying an American man, John Familo, that she met while playing an online video game. While living in the U.S., she received a master’s degree at SUNY Oswego and taught as an adjunct communications professor. Evron Familo said she loves food, but does not like what is available for American desserts and decided to start baking her own desserts instead. Her husband suggested she sell her cooking at farmer’s markets, but was unable to because selling food with cream as an ingredient must be regulated by health codes and made in a certified kitchen. 

“During COVID, a family friend asked for macarons, because I would make macarons for people,” Evron Familo said. “And I started making it again and I started to realize I actually have fun doing this.”

Evron Familo said she and her husband started looking for a space to rent before finding a place in The Old Freight House building of downtown Oswego, a few doors away from the popular restaurant The Press Box on East First Street. She said the space was a blank room, and she had to have walls and a ceiling constructed to her specifics.

“I was involved in the construction here, putting tiles in the ceiling, my own literal blood and tears everywhere here,” Evron Familo said. “When you work for something yourself, it is a different kind of ownership. I feel like this is more my home than the house I’m renting.”

Tatlim Bakery serves a variety of desserts, including macarons, cream puffs, eclairs and parfaits, and traditional Turkish baklava and kadayif. The bakery also serves traditional Turkish coffee.

Evron Familo said business has been good, and the City of Oswego and IHeartOswego had a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony on March 31. She said the bakery was packed with people, and all samples of macarons and cream puffs were taken. According to Evron Familo, Mayor Billy Barlow said at the ceremony that the bakery’s kitchen was one of the cleanest he had seen.

While other businesses have had trouble finding employees in 2021 and 2022, Tatlim Bakery had over 60 people apply for job positions, according to Evron Familo. She said a number of applicants were coming from unrelated jobs such as construction, and attributed it to the competitive wage offered.

Evron Familo said she takes pride in only serving the best ingredients, admitting when she produces a batch of desserts that are not up to her standards and offering them at a discounted price. Bakery patron Alex Gullo said she can taste that Tatlim Bakery uses fresh and high-quality ingredients, and it is reflected in their products.

“The quality of the pastry, you can just taste it,” Gullo said. “And it is so absolutely wonderful. Their macarons are so very, very fresh.”

However, a commitment to using high-quality and authentic Turkish ingredients is proving to be a problem for the bakery because of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has banned the export of some agricultural products to stabilize internal markets and Evron Familo said the business is feeling the impact. Ingredients are farmed in Turkey, shipped to New Jersey and once a month shipped to Oswego and the bakery.

“Our suppliers said you guys have to buy extras, because due to the war Turkey is no longer exporting pistachios,” Evron Familo said. “No longer exporting oils and other things, so we have to have those things. I’ve spent a lot of money to get extras. They said you might struggle the next couple of months.”

Evron Familo corrected herself and said Turkey can legally export pistachios, a key ingredient to Turkish baklava and kadayif that Tatlim Bakery often sells out of, but that they are not being shipped. She said her supplier said although certain products like pistachios are traveling, border crossings are difficult and many ingredients are sitting in boxes in the country instead of being transported.

“[The supplier] said there are no shipments for the next month, and I could not get the pistachios I want,” Evron Familo said. “And I could not get the pistachios I want, so I had to get lesser quality, in my mind and in my head, pistachios. What else am I going to do? I’m either not going to sell anything, or begrudgingly lower the quality of that.”

Evron Familo said her supplier told her to be prepared to go without her preferred ingredients for the next couple of months if the situation in Europe does not improve. However, Evron Familo remained positive.

“I never thought I would have a bakery before, but life throws you a curveball,” Evron Familo said. “And okay, make something with it and I think I did very well.”

Photo from John Custodio