America’s his home

POST FALLS – Turkish-born Raci Erdem, owner/chef at The White House Grill, likes to tell people he was so excited when he got to New York City’s harbor that he jumped overboard and swam below the Statue of Liberty.

It’s not true, he laughs.

But the story captures Erdem’s affection for the United States.

And it typifies the playful atmosphere Erdem creates in his Post Falls restaurant, a regional hot spot for garlic-infused Mediterranean food.

In reality, Erdem flew to New York on a student visa in 1990 to improve his English. A student at a Turkish technical school, he planned to enter the textile business.

“I told my best friends, ‘I’ll stay four months, and if I like it, nobody will be able to take me away,’ ” he says over a cup of strong coffee served al fresco at his original restaurant.

He bunked in a Brooklyn studio apartment with five other young Turkish guys. He scraped together some cash working double time, repairing carpets for some other Turkish guys, he says.

And he vowed to make America his home.

Erdem got a break serving coffee in a swanky New York restaurant.

“I made $50 a night in tips,” he says, seemingly still amazed. “Not only did I love the job, but I (also) was eating good food, (the place) was nice and it was air-conditioned.”

Erdem met and married a Post Falls girl and headed to the Inland Northwest, though he knew little about it at the time.

In America, he says, people have many chances to better themselves.

In Turkey, you’re either very poor or you’re born into wealth, he says. Upward mobility is an anomaly.

“I’ll always have a love and respect for this country,” says Erdem, who has become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

When he revoked his Turkish citizenship, he got a nasty note from the government.

“They still want me to go and do army duty. I told them they can take their passport and do whatever they want with it,” he says.

Erdem says he’s a die-hard supporter of the “all men are created equal” philosophy of the U.S. Constitution.

“We sometimes don’t realize how good we live. Here, there’s a middle class and a chance to have a nice little house, a nice little car. The country’s rich,” he says.

“In Turkey, you have to bribe a doorman to get into the hospital. Pay a bribe for a driver’s license. Bureaucracy’s everywhere,” he says.

But Erdem says he still loves his homeland. He just doesn’t want to live there.

He took his two elementary-school-age children to Turkey to meet his family last summer.

“They saw street dogs and cats,” he says, “and they realized even the animals here are so lucky. They don’t have to go to the butcher shop and wait for a handout.

“My children have a chance to compare it, and they understand what we have here,” he says of America’s wealth.

Erdem is smitten with the area’s mountains, lakes and views.

“Lake Coeur d’Alene, to me, is like the best-looking place,” says Erdem, who bought a little cabin there. “It’s a beautiful country, and I hope they don’t screw it up,” he says of residents and government agencies that oversee public places.

Erdem’s love of the restaurant business plays out daily at his White House Grill, where he cooks, serenades and even plays bongos for his patrons.

It’s his way of creating the atmosphere and tastes of Turkey and its neighbors. Folks flock in for dishes such as lamb, gyros and shish kebobs.

On occasions, a belly dancer shakes things up. Mediterranean music fills the air. Travel posters, purposely hanging askew, adorn the walls.

The traditional foods are inspired by old family recipes, Erdem says. The signature garlic flavor is his personal contribution.

Restaurant revenue tops $900,000 annually at the eatery, opened in 2003 with just a few tables and a staff of four.

Today, business is so good, Erdem has branched out and opened The Oval Office, a martini bar with a lighter menu just a block away.

“And if I get rich, I’m going to do The Pentagon,” he laughs.