Monday

Best Bites of 2014

Editor’s note: To cap off our annual review of the year’s best eating experiences, we’ve unleashed our imaginations to create the Turkish food court of our dreams.

After a period of protest, we finally broke down and visited the Zorlu Center, a new, high-profile shopping mall in Istanbul and a showcase of international brand names, from Fendi to Jamie Oliver. Our initial attraction was the promise of a particularly well-kept playground, but while we were there, we visited Eataly, the all-Italian culinary emporium.

Sitting there in the Eataly food court munching on something Italian that looked like a gözleme and that our waiter described as similar to the Turkish flatbread, we were surrounded by shelves lined with beautifully packaged Italian foodstuffs. The place seemed to go on forever – was that an upstairs? Huge wheels of cheese were parked right there by a gelato stand, and beyond that was a pasta section that you’d want to clear a Sunday afternoon out for, just to browse. It was a stimulating experience that got us thinking, what would a Turkish version of Eataly, or – if we were charged with naming it – “Eaturkey,” look like?

Read the rest of the story 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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