Sultan’s Kitchen is shuttered after 36 years

Downtown restaurant Sultan's Kitchen closed its doors after losing its lease.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/File 2001

Sultan's Kitchen owner Ozcan Ozan.Janet Knott/Globe Staff/file 2003

Lunch downtown just got a bit less delicious: Sultan’s Kitchen, at 116 State St., has closed its doors after 36 years in business, according to an e-mail from owner Ozcan Ozan.

The restaurant — hailed by former Globe food editor Sheryl Julian for its “wonderful” food — was known for fresh vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, and sandwiches like pita stuffed with baba ghanoush.

Ozan was a chef in Europe before coming to the United States. In Boston, he cooked at Ferdinand’s, the French restaurant in Cambridge, before opening his downtown storefront. He also wrote a 1998 cookbook, “Sultan’s Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook.”

In the e-mail, Ozan said he had lost the lease for the State Street building and will miss his loyal customers.