Olga Irez is an Istanbul-based food blogger who had lived in five countries and traveled to a few more before moving to Turkey. Olga runs Delicious Istanbul food tours and cooking classes to share her passion for the food and markets of the city she loves. Humbled by the popularity of her little venture, Olga prefers to keep her operation small and personal serving a limited number of people a few days a week. The rest of the time Olga spends on food research and cooking. Monthly she hosts Istanbul breakfast club: she lays out a carefully sourced and lovingly prepared morning meal for a good company of avid eaters and Istanbul enthusiasts.
When not around Olga can be found at her family estate in Sapanca, a picturesque village a 2-hour drive from the city, where Olga makes fresh herbal teas, plays with the dogs, cooks and participates in the big family meals. She also runs culinary workshops at the family countryside property.
Russia-born Olga used to work as a strategy consultant for a global firm serving clients in Russia and Ukraine and received her master degree from a prestigious business school in Norway. But a visit to Istanbul inspired a stock-taking and,ultimately, a drastic career change. In 2010 Olga quit her high-profile career and moved to Turkey’s cultural capital, where she started her food venture and met her Turkish husband.
Olga’s interest in food originates from her grandparents’ house: her grandfather was an experienced forager and gardener who taught her the gratitude to the nature and its seasons while Olga’s grandmother has demonstrated unmatched ability to create delicious meals with most humble ingredients. Olga’s cooking matured through her travels, study and work abroad in the countries ranging from Norway to India. And it is her Turkish-mother-in-law, goddess of Turkish home cooking, from whom Olga has been learning the secrets of Turkish cuisine. Olga is passionate about local, seasonal, fresh, minimally processed food sourced from a small producer and known among her friends as a food snob.
Olga shares insights into eating and cooking in Istanbul and the Turkish countryside and thoughts on life in Turkey on her popular blog Delicious Istanbul. Olga, her food tour and cooking classes as well we the blog have been featured internationally: