In 1998, Börekçi Group established its Food & Beverage business unit by entering into a franchise agreement with Mezzaluna for the metro Ankara area in Turkey. Mezzaluna is an Italian-American restaurant chain which was established in 1984 in New York City. Mezzaluna is the first foreign franchise restaurant with ‘know-how’ in Turkey. With its interior design and menu, Mezzaluna has a Trattoria style, aims to serve superior Italian food with reasonable pricing in a fast-pace approach. A dynamic and electrifying atmosphere brings a clubby and upscale feel without being intimidating. Because of this, Mezzaluna can serve a variety of guests. In early 1999 the Ankara Bilkent restaurant opened its doors to serve the capital of Turkey and was the sixth Mezzaluna in the world following, New York City, South Beach-Miami, Los Angeles, Aspen, and Istanbul. Today, with the addition of the Kavaklıdere downtown location in 2002, Ankara has two branches operational as well as the expectation of a new location with March 2006 target opening of 3rd branch in Çay Yolu, a rapidly developing suburb of Ankara. Currently, there are over 12 Mezzaluna locations world-wide.