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Beyoglu Authorities Turn the Tables on Outdoor Seating

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:00:56 +0000

Late afternoon on Sofyali Sokak, the restaurant-crowded street in Beyoglu’s Asmalimescit district, is usually happy hour – two for one tequila shots, raki glasses clinking, half-liters of Efes hoisted. But today, in the aftermath of a Beyoglu-wide crackdown on outside seating that left the street bare of a single place to sit outside, the scene was palpably unhappy. (The “before and after” photo above is of Sofyali Sok.)

Since the indoor smoking ban went into effect, outdoor seating has become even more prized on this street, a hot destination for revelry. While most businesses held permits for their outdoor seating area, violations of the space were clearly rampant. Over the past year, tables seemed to multiply like mushrooms overnight until finally, pedestrians were forced to pass in a single file line between the gauntlet of tables filled with diners, drinkers and smokers.

But this afternoon, police and municipal inspectors swept through, confiscating outdoor furniture and ordering the demolition of decks built outside of restaurants. A pile of rubble, previously a deck, stood just downhill from the stylish House Café, while across the street waiters worked frantically with crowbars to remove a particularly permanent looking structure.

Pushcart vendor Murat said, “This affects all of us. Who am I going to sell pogaca to if no one is outside? How can I live if I can’t make money? They’ve just killed Asmalimescit.”

But a waiter from Perentez café said, “Think about this, if there’s a fire and the trucks can’t get through the street. In two hours how many lives will be lost?” Located just off of Sofyali Sokak, Perentez, for now, remains one of the few bars in the area with outdoor seating.

According to a report in the daily Radikal, the Beyoglu municipality is responding to citizens’ complaints of the illegal blockage of streets and sidewalks. But today, on Sofyali Sokak where business owners, loyal customers and others stood in knots discussing the sweep. The murmur going through the crowd was “Tayyip,” as in Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicating the Prime Minister as the hand behind the lightning brigades. According to one version of the rumor, the PM was incensed after his motorcade was unable one recent night to get through Beyoglu’s people-crowded narrow streets because of all the outdoor seating and gave the order for what could be dubbed Operation Table Clearing.

According to Bade, the owner of the ever-popular bar and café Badehane, the other night at around 11pm an ominous handwritten note was delivered saying, “Your use of the sidewalk has been cancelled.” Today Bade didn’t put any tables outside and doesn’t know how her business will survive. “We make all of our money in the summer thanks to our outdoor seating that I paid the Municipality for in advance. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pay my rent. But I’m hopeful that we’ll find a solution.”

Around the corner on Asmali Mescit Caddesi, which was cleared out over the weekend, a shoeshine man sat in front of his large brass box as a deliveryman with a handtruck urged him to move out of the way. The shoeshine man shook his head and took another bite out of his sandwich, for now the last man in Asmalimescit still sitting outside.

Learn Turkish Cooking in 5 Days or Less

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:06:08 +0000

For those interested in learning how to make their own börek dough, manti and other Turkish classics but don’t have much time to do it, the Istanbul Culinary Institute is offering a series of five-day crash courses in July and August. The courses run for a total of 25 hours and you can join for the whole five days (1,000 TL) or just one day at a time (250 TL).

For more information, visit the ICI’s website.

EatingAsia Hits Southeast Turkey!

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:18:30 +0000

The folks behind EatingAsia, the web’s most mouthwatering food blog, are in Turkey and recently made a long journey through the country’s southeast region. The blog has several posts up reporting on their finds in the region and are well worth checking out. You can find EatingAsia here.

A Turkish Wine Report

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:46:25 +0000

The Scotsman has an article that takes a look at some of the developments in Turkish winemaking and offers up some recommended bottles. You can find the article here.

Istanbul Eats in Zaman

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:46:43 +0000

We recently sat down for a chat and some kofte with the good folks from the Turkish-language Zaman newspaper, where we talked our work as “taste detectives” (as the headline of the resulting article puts it) and our work in general. After the interview, we took the Zaman folks to visit Zubeyir, one of our favorite places in town, where the grill master actually let us get behind the grill and work the skewers. You can find the article (in Turkish) here.

The Other Hidrellez

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 07:01:19 +0000

Hidrellez, the traditional spring festival celebrated with so much gusto by the Roma communities of Istanbul, is upon us. Impromtu battles of the fiddlers, fire dancing, grill smoke and canned beer surely filled the streets of Ahirkapi, a historic Roma neighborhood near Sultanahmet that’s home to an annual Hidrellez blowout that took place on Wednesday. However, in the past few years we’ve observed this celebration transform from a naïve street party into an over-organized commercial endeavor. In case you missed or skipped the Ahirkapi celebration, we suggest you explore this year’s alternative Hidrellez, in the Sariyer area’s Çayırbaşı nabe, where the Roma to festivalgoer ratio is sure to be a bit more even. The festival will feature dance studios, art projects, and performances of all kinds. In addition to the usual festival offerings of doner kebab, kofte and draft beer, festival organizers are expecting “traditional” Roma cuisine to be served up.

Details:
Çayırbaşı Neighborhood Center, Sarıyer
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Art workshops: 1:00PM-6:00 PM
Concerts: 7:30PM-12:00AM
http://www.cayirbasihidrellez.org/site/

The Simit Has Landed

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:09:39 +0000

New York Magazine reports two potentially earthshaking pieces of news. First: Istanbul baklava maker Gulluoglu has opened up a branch on the east side of Manhattan. Two: they are serving freshly-baked simits (“looking a little like the secret love child of the bagel and the street pretzel,” as the magazine describes them).

The fast food scene in Istanbul, over the last few years, has been overtaken by a number of chains selling freshly-baked simits. But will the street-wise simit be able to take on the mighty bagel in its hometown? Is this only the start of what might soon be a campaign for global simit domination? As they say, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

(hat tip Bumpershine)