Istanbul: A Beautiful Bridge of a City
The meeting point of two continents and many cultures
My friends. I’m so happy to be here and talking about one of the most beautiful cities on earth. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to explore it over the years, and to soak up its history, its architecture, its many strands of cultures from all around the world…and of course, its incredible food.
I’ve spent time in Istanbul on research trips for my restaurant, Zaytinya, which shares the cuisine and culture of the Eastern Mediterranean—Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey/Türkiye. I first went over 20 years ago, when my wife Patricia and I walked great bazaars and markets taking in all the unique ingredients, spices, cheeses, and of course Turkish coffee and tea, not to mention finding serving platters and bowls and glasses that we would ship back to Washington DC for the restaurant. And most recently, I was there early last year, to discover new dishes and to do research for the restaurant and my newest project a cookbook called Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon, which is about to come out in two weeks. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, now is your chance. The roasted lamb shoulder is worth the price of the book alone, and there’s so much to explore—more than 150 recipes inspired by the region, plus stories from the people who have made the restaurant what it is for the last twenty years.
So now that you’ve ordered your cookbook, you can settle in and see where I love to eat in Istanbul—and of course, next week I will be asking you where you like to go. I’ve also been lucky enough to have the advice of some great friends and experts on the city—like Nazlı Pişkin, a food writer and food historian, who showed me and my team around the Kadıköy Market (more about that later), and who worked on the beautiful Turkish Cookbook with author and chef Musa Dağdeviren (she’s also friends with Aglaia Kremezi, who I told you about in my post about Athens). When I was in Istanbul, I was constantly texting my old friend Anya Von Bremzen, the food writer who has expertise on Spanish cooking, Soviet cooking, Russian cooking, Cuban cooking, Turkish cooking…she is the expert’s expert, and she happens to live some of the year in Istanbul, so I knew I would be in good hands with each of her recommendations.
So here we go!