Emily Hays Photos
Alders, mayoral candidates and neighbors celebrate Ramadan together.
As the sun set, even political rivals ate dates, lentil soup and rice together at Brick Oven Pizza’s iftar.
The Catalbasoglu family celebrated the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the nightly iftar (the meal breaking the daily fast) with friends and acquaintances at their Elm Street restaurant on Tuesday.
“Ramadan is a time to bring people together,” Hacibey Catalbasoglu said, looking at the unlikely companions at the table.
There were alders, rival mayoral candidates, Dwight neighborhood leaders, a Yale student and a recent transplant to the Elm City.
The Brick Oven Pizza owners have hosted an iftar every Ramadan for the past six years — except last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic had just started in New Haven. New Haven Muslims ate at home last year, with just their immediate family or after picking up meals from drive-by iftars.
As the sun set, Muslims at the outdoor table broke their daylong fasts. Others dug with equal fervor into the Turkish food prepared by Fatma Catalbasoglu, Hacibey’s mother. It took her three hours to prepare the lamb, potatoes, salad and other dishes on the table.
She used basmati rice for the dried fruit and carrot-topped rice, instead of the short-grain rice more commonly used in the dish. Her husband, Kadir Catalbasoglu, requested the swap.
Fatma’s favorite dish at the iftar was the lentil soup. She boils the lentils, onions, carrots and small potatoes together before eventually blending them into a smooth purée.
Alder Frank Douglass talks with Karen DuBois-Walton, while Mayor Justin Elicker eats in the background.
The conversation roved from the student’s experience at a new apartment complex to the new mural on Brick Oven’s wall to Dwight Alder Frank Douglass’ stories as an Uber driver. (Douglass once accepted a ride by accident that took him three hours south to Princeton, N.J.)
The two candidates expected to run in a New Haven Democratic mayoral primary this year, incumbent Justin Elicker and “exploratory” challenger Karen DuBois-Walton, sat across from one another in the Brick Oven courtyard. The two did not quite chat with one another, but they were friendly and participated in the conversations flowing around them.
Current and former Downtown alders Eli Sabin (left) and Hacibey Catalbasoglu (center).
Downtown Alder Eli Sabin was the first to finish his plate.
“You should put this on the menu,” Sabin said.
Sabin traded religious fasting details with Hacibey, based on Sabin’s experience observing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
It’s been a different kind of year for Hacibey, a Yale grad and former alder whose plan to work a New York finance job and save up for law school evaporated with the pandemic. He returned home and took over as manager of Brick Oven Pizza.
Hacibey has been able to spend more time with family as he considers his next move. He expects to start law school next year at Boston University, unless he gets into another school that he prefers.
He still plans to return to the Elm City for Ramadan.
“Every year, I’ll come back wherever I am,” Hacibey said.
Kate Walton and Dwight Central Management Team Chair Florita Gillespie.
Neighbor Kate Walton has decided to fast every day of Ramadan with the Catalbasoglus this year. She has been friends with the family since her children got hooked on Brick Oven pizza. She remembers when the Catalbasoglu family converted a vacant gas station into the pizzeria and how happy she was to see the corner filled.
A spiritual Christian, Walton likes the themes of empathy, self-discovery and generosity in Ramadan. Now retired from a long career in nonprofit leadership, she found room in her schedule to try to observe the full holiday.
Sitting quietly near Hacibey was Enes Serezli. He immigrated to the United States from Turkey two years ago and met Hacibey at a New York mosque. He has only lived in New Haven for two months. As a member of the United American Muslim Association, he is hoping to expand education options at mosques in New Haven.
Serezli explained why fasting is so important for Ramadan — it’s about understanding the hunger and thirst of those who do not have easy access to food and water.
The group seated in the Brick Oven courtyard is typical of the kind of community hub that the restaurant tries to be, particularly on Ramadan. At the border of Yale student territory and the rest of Dwight, Brick Oven Pizza draws in customers from a range of economic, religious and racial backgrounds.
“I would say they like to do this often, whether with politicians or students,” Sabin said.
Ramadan lasts from April 12 to May 12 this year.
You're either at the table or on the menu, as the saying goes. Lot's of Yale people at that table. Makes you wonder if New Haven was on the menu.