Monday
Preserving Istanbul’s Soul, One Bite at a Time
We generally prefer to keep our nose in a bowl of soup and out of the political arena, but over the weekend, Istanbul’s politics seeped through the cracks in our windows, in the form of teargas and general mayhem. As longtime foreign residents of Istanbul, we’ve found it relatively easy to steer clear of political activity, but every so often it barges into our homes and turns our stomachs.
For almost a week now, demonstrations have been building up a momentum that still has yet to be exhausted. What started as a demonstration against the destruction of a small park near Taksim Square in order to make way for yet another shopping mall quickly turned into the Alamo of the disenfranchised.
The rest of this post can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.
All entries filed under News
no responses - Posted 05.23.13
Istanbul Eats, together with Caravansarai Art Space, is hosting a monthlong celebration of Perşembe Pazarı’s esnaf lokantaları (tradesmen’s restaurants) by launching a competition. And you are invited! The month of June is dedicated to revealing and enjoying the hidden (or sometimes very visible) treasures of Perşembe Pazarı, a hardware-selling neighborhood in ...continue
1 response - Posted 04.26.13
In the realm of Turkey’s small businesses, the esnaf lokantası (tradesmen’s restaurant) hovers above everything like a uniting holy spirit. A good one certainly is divine in nature. Take just about any old esnaf lokantası, and you’re sure to encounter a community that only exists at that particular spot on ...continue
1 response - Posted 02.18.13
As we've previously chronicled, the Tünel end of Istanbul’s famed İstiklal Caddesi was some two years ago the site of a heated burger war. It all started when a former Turkish basketball-player-turned-restaurateur who had spent time studying in California opened up Mano Burger, a mostly successful recreation of the kind ...continue
3 responses - Posted 01.30.13
Being big fans of simit – the sesame-encrusted bread ring that’s one of Turkey’s most popular street foods – we’ve looked on with delight over the last few years as the humble snack has made its way from Istanbul to the other metropolis with a 212 area code: Manhattan. First, ...continue
1 response - Posted 01.14.13
We are unabashedly fanatical in our love of hamsi, or anchovies, a late fall/wintertime specialty whose arrival we eagerly await each year in Istanbul, where the tiny fish are most commonly served pan-fried, grilled or in pilaf. But as any hamsi aficionado knows, for the best anchovy-eating in Turkey one ...continue
no responses - Posted 01.08.13
We are proud to announce that Saveur has included the Culinary Backstreets: Istanbul iPhone app in its “Saveur 100: Travel Edition” list, published in the magazine’s January/February 2013 issue. Saveur praised the app’s “smart search functions, integrated maps, and vivid photos,” calling it “the ideal portable portal to one of ...continue
no responses - Posted 12.20.12
Continuing a tradition we began at Istanbul Eats in 2010, as we approach the end of the year, we’ll be publishing “Best Bites of 2012,” a roundup of our top culinary experiences over the last year that will appear on our sister website, CulinaryBackstreets.com. Submitted by CB’s correspondents in Istanbul, ...continue
no responses - Posted 12.11.12
We would have liked to like the profiterol at İnci Pastanesi, and to believe their claim that the profiterol was invented on the premises in the 1940s. But in fact, we’ve always appreciated İnci for non-culinary reasons. Until last week, this old-school Beyoğlu pastry shop had been spooning out cream ...continue
no responses - Posted 11.19.12
Istanbul Eats co-founders Ansel Mullins and Yigal Schleifer recently spent a few days introducing a crew from the CBS Sunday Morning show to Istanbul’s gastronomic underbelly, at one point journeying in a rickety wooden boat on the Golden Horn in order to get to the next meal. Tagging along on ...continue
6 responses - Posted 11.05.12
Istanbul is often billed as the city where “East meets West,” but to many it is a place where those geographies pass each other on the way in and out of town. Afghans, Iranians, sub-Saharan Africans, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Filipinos and many other nationalities end up in Istanbul, struggling to ...continue