Jan 05
Tuesday
Eski Kafa: New-Age Old-Fashioned

An ironic wink and nudge come with the restaurant name Eski Kafa, which is also a Turkish term for “old fashioned to the hilt.” This little eatery, with its Zen lodge décor and signage boasting “all natural” “organic” and “without hormones” is also decidedly new age – to the hilt. Previously an organic fruit and vegetable stand, Eski Kafa, owned by a children’s book author and his interior designer wife, keeps a slow food agenda on the table with traditional Turkish dishes prepared fresh with what’s in season. Continue…
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Beans: An Investigative Report
1 response - Posted 12.31.09
(Editor's Note: In honor of New Year's Day, we are rerunning this feature, which was originally posted in April of this year. Happy New Year to all our readers and keep coming back for more in 2010!) Until visiting some of Istanbul’s shrines to the baked bean, we generally regarded the ...continue
1 response - Posted 12.31.09
(Editor's Note: In honor of New Year's Day, we are rerunning this feature, which was originally posted in April of this year. Happy New Year to all our readers and keep coming back for more in 2010!) Until visiting some of Istanbul’s shrines to the baked bean, we generally regarded the ...continue
Çiğ köfte: The Raw Deal
no responses - Posted 10.12.09
It may not quite be up there with Japan’s fugu, blowfish meat that if prepared incorrectly can lead to death, but Turkey’s çiğ köfte is one of those foods that carries with it a certain frisson of danger. Literally translated as “raw meatballs,” the dish is made out of uncooked ...continue
no responses - Posted 10.12.09
It may not quite be up there with Japan’s fugu, blowfish meat that if prepared incorrectly can lead to death, but Turkey’s çiğ köfte is one of those foods that carries with it a certain frisson of danger. Literally translated as “raw meatballs,” the dish is made out of uncooked ...continue
Vefa Boza: Strange Brew
no responses - Posted 10.07.09
After our first taste, we were not quite ready to sing the praises of boza, a thick, almost pudding-like drink made from fermented millet. But the experience stuck with us. What is that flavor? Something like cross between Russian kvass (a fermented drink made from rye bread) and applesauce may ...continue
no responses - Posted 10.07.09
After our first taste, we were not quite ready to sing the praises of boza, a thick, almost pudding-like drink made from fermented millet. But the experience stuck with us. What is that flavor? Something like cross between Russian kvass (a fermented drink made from rye bread) and applesauce may ...continue
Meşhur Unkapani IMÇ Pilavcisi: The (rice) Freaks Come Out at Night
2 responses - Posted 08.24.09
One recent late night, zipping down a busy Istanbul thoroughfare in a taxi on our way home from the airport, we passed by an intriguing scene. Huddled around a brightly lit food cart was a large group of men stuffing their faces in a kind of zombie-like frenzy. It almost ...continue
2 responses - Posted 08.24.09
One recent late night, zipping down a busy Istanbul thoroughfare in a taxi on our way home from the airport, we passed by an intriguing scene. Huddled around a brightly lit food cart was a large group of men stuffing their faces in a kind of zombie-like frenzy. It almost ...continue
Siirt Şeref Büryan Kebap Salonu: The Lamb Underground
2 responses - Posted 06.22.09
The Kadinlar Pazari – a very pleasant, pedestrian-only square in Istanbul’s Fatih neighborhood – is the closest the city has to having a “Little Kurdistan.” The surrounding area is populated by migrants from Turkey’s predominantly-Kurdish southeast, and small markets and butcher shops selling honey, cheeses, spices and other goodies from ...continue
2 responses - Posted 06.22.09
The Kadinlar Pazari – a very pleasant, pedestrian-only square in Istanbul’s Fatih neighborhood – is the closest the city has to having a “Little Kurdistan.” The surrounding area is populated by migrants from Turkey’s predominantly-Kurdish southeast, and small markets and butcher shops selling honey, cheeses, spices and other goodies from ...continue
Kaburga Sofrası: The Rib Shack
no responses - Posted 06.01.09
In eastern Turkey, a lamb is consumed literally from head to tail, with hardly any part of the animal going uncooked. One of the specialties from the region, particularly in the area around the picturesque city of Mardin, is kaburga – breast of lamb – a cut akin to short ...continue
no responses - Posted 06.01.09
In eastern Turkey, a lamb is consumed literally from head to tail, with hardly any part of the animal going uncooked. One of the specialties from the region, particularly in the area around the picturesque city of Mardin, is kaburga – breast of lamb – a cut akin to short ...continue
Akdeniz Hatay Sofrası: The Syrian Connection
6 responses - Posted 04.20.09
The only positive thing about the torturous annual visit we make to Istanbul’s main police station in order to renew our residence permit is the chance to drive through the low-rent Aksaray neighborhood, home to dozens of intriguing off-the-beaten path restaurants, most of them opened by migrants from other parts ...continue
6 responses - Posted 04.20.09
The only positive thing about the torturous annual visit we make to Istanbul’s main police station in order to renew our residence permit is the chance to drive through the low-rent Aksaray neighborhood, home to dozens of intriguing off-the-beaten path restaurants, most of them opened by migrants from other parts ...continue

