Overview

MEP was tasked with designing a single evening experience in Istanbul for approximately 900 international guests attending a global consulting firm’s programme.

Rather than a traditional gala or large-scale venue, the brief was clear: create a Friday night that felt entirely local. Not staged, not touristic — but something guests might experience if they actually lived in the city.

The concept centred around small, neighbourhood restaurants — intimate, authentic spaces typically hosting no more than 40–60 guests.

Client Objective

The objective was to move away from conventional event formats and deliver a highly local, distributed dining experience across the city.

Key priorities included:

• Creating an authentic, neighbourhood-style evening

• Avoiding large-scale or standardised venues

• Delivering a personalised, intimate experience at scale

• Maintaining seamless logistics across multiple locations

• Ensuring all dietary and cultural requirements were met

The Challenge

The concept was simple. The execution was not.

To deliver the experience, MEP identified and secured 24 independent restaurants across selected neighbourhoods, many of which had limited capacity and small operational teams. The majority were not designed to serve international groups at this scale.

Key challenges included:

• Distributing 900 guests across 24 venues, many with fewer than 50 covers

• Aligning restaurant capacity with kitchen capability and service flow

• Managing a highly diverse international group from over 60 countries

• Meeting complex dietary requirements, including kosher, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free

• Navigating Istanbul’s narrow streets, where even smaller vehicles had limited access

In addition, the operational model required precision. Each guest needed to be assigned to the correct vehicle, route, and restaurant — with no margin for error.

Our Approach

MEP approached the evening as a fully segmented, city-wide operation.

Months were spent identifying the right venues — balancing authenticity with operational feasibility — and preparing each location to host international guests.

The structure included:

• Detailed guest allocation by restaurant and route

• Dedicated staff across all touchpoints, including vehicles, venues, and neighbourhood coordination

• Pre-planned routing based on vehicle access and street limitations

• Specialised coordination for dietary requirements, including certified meal sourcing

On the night, over 100 staff were deployed across the city, each assigned to a specific role — from transport coordination to on-site guest management.

Execution

Execution began as guests departed from three different hotels across the city.

Shortly before departure, a critical issue emerged: guest lists had been updated last-minute, but the revised information had not been communicated to the operations team. As a result, initial vehicle allocations no longer matched guest assignments.

At that moment, the entire structure was at risk.

What followed was a rapid, real-time reorganisation. Teams across hotels, vehicles, and neighbourhoods coordinated simultaneously, redirecting guests, reallocating vehicles, and adjusting routes.

Within approximately 15 minutes, the system had been re-stabilised.

• Guests were reassigned to the correct vehicles

• Staff redirected movements across multiple locations

• Certain dietary deliveries were completed manually to meet timing

• Vehicles adapted routes to access areas not originally planned

Despite the disruption, all 24 restaurants received their guests as planned, and service continued without interruption.

Outcome

The evening was delivered successfully across all locations.

• 900 guests hosted across 24 independent restaurants

• High levels of guest satisfaction across a highly diverse audience

• Seamless delivery despite last-minute operational disruption

• Strong positive feedback from both client and participants

Beyond logistics, the experience achieved its original intent — offering guests a side of Istanbul that is rarely accessed through traditional programmes.

Key Takeaways

• Authenticity at scale requires detailed structural planning

• Small venues introduce complexity, but also create stronger experiences

• Real-time problem-solving is critical in distributed operations

• Preparation enables flexibility when plans change