Saturday

First Stop: Anissa Helou’s Istanbul

Editor’s note: In the latest installment of our recurring feature First Stop, we asked chef and food writer Anissa Helou where she heads first for food when she arrives in Istanbul. Helou is the author of many cookbooks, including Lebanese Cuisine, Mediterranean Street Food, Savory Baking from the Mediterranean and The Fifth Quarter and has also written for publications such as the Observer Food Monthly, FT Weekend, the Times Magazine and Food & Wine. She has been featured on numerous radio and TV programs in the U.S. and U.K.

The first place I would go to is Özkonak, in Cihangir. It works for both lunch and afternoon tea, which is when I would be arriving. It has the best tavuk göğsü (chicken breast pudding) in town, at least as far as I am concerned, as well as a limited selection of delicious dishes made with seasonal ingredients. And it is next to a fabulous pickles merchant. Pickles are big in Turkey.

Read the rest of this feature at Culinary Backstreets.

In case you didn’t know, Istanbul Eats now lives over at Culinary Backstreets. Same great culinary walks, same great culinary writing. You’ll be redirected there in a few seconds!

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