Seventeen years ago, Talin Bozuklu was hired as a dishwasher at The Organic Market, the health food store in Playhouse Square. Talin eventually became the head chef, and her food won awards and devotees across Fairfield County. Earlier this year, when longtime owners Maggie and Charles Vosgueritchian retired after 38 years, Talin took on another title: co-owner. She and her partner Mary Taş officially took over in January. “For 17 years, she's cooked for everyone, and she loved that experience. And now, in this new chapter in her life, she gets to cook for herself,” says Yeraz Bozuklu, Talin’s daughter, who has taken on PR and marketing in addition to working in the juice bar three days a week. “It’s such a special moment. I can't even describe how she feels about it.” Mary, Yeraz's aunt, worked in the kitchen and juice bar from 1997 until 2011, so it is a full family affair.
The Organic Market is a Westport institution, and Talin and Mary plan to carry on that legacy while modernizing a few things about the business. “We love our customers,” says Yeraz. “Everyone who has tried The Organic Market, whether for the first time or they have been coming for the past 20 years, knows it's so incredibly important to the community. We want to keep it the same and just spruce it up a bit.” One area where Yeraz and her family want to start? “Making it more environmentally friendly,” she says. They’ve been replacing the plastic produce bins with wooden ones and have other eco-conscious upgrades in the works. If you’ve been in recently, you might notice the store’s layout has changed, too, to be slightly more intuitive. The juice bar is getting new, hand-calligraphed signs done by a local artist and the seating area will expand both inside and outside to make it easier to stay and eat. And while the café staples aren’t going anywhere—after all, Talin has been the chef for many years, and she knows what people like!— they are hoping to add more Mediterranean dishes to the menu, as well as more vegan options.
Yeraz is also hoping to boost the market’s online presence, manning social media and their website so customers can see the daily specials and keep spreading the word about this treasured local business. “It’s such a hidden gem,” Yeraz says. “We want The Organic Market to be well-known in the community.”
The Organic Market is located at 285 Post Road E. in Westport. For more, visit organicmarketct.com
“Everyone who has tried The Organic Market knows it's so incredibly important to the community."