If someone may have ever suspected me of an elitist approach to Istanbul dining this post is going to clear those doubts once and for all. I am going to sing the praises of an excellent fish sandwich, a signature Istanbul street food, I enjoyed the other day at Istanbul fine dining restaurant, SekizIstanbul. Yes, that’s right - street food at a fine dining restaurant. You think I am bragging about my decadent dining habits? No, I am talking about the current state of affairs with Istanbul food, and the fish sandwich is such a good metaphor that explains the matter.
New Istanbul cuisine
The opening of Yeni Lokanta (literally - New Canteen) is undoubtedly a signature event for Istanbul. Not only because the city has got one more restaurant serving very good food, but also because this eatery may be the first robin of the culinary revolution in the city. We do have a few restaurants that had pioneered New Istanbul, if now New Anatolian, cuisine such as Mikla, Lokanta Maya, Kantin and others. And it is important that those places broaden culinary horizons of their eaters, but it is also critical that they teach their chefs to experiment so that some of those young chefs could continue their bold experimentation in their own restaurants and further popularize the idea of the New Istanbul cuisine.
Last month we went to see Skyfall. My husband was bewildered by my unwitnessed before enthusiasm about an action movie. I reassured him it was not for Daniel Craig (oh, is he not the hottest Bond of all?) but the Istanbul scenes of the movie. A good part of the summer during my food walks I had to take my clients rounds and rounds around the “Oriental bazaar” built for the Skyfall stunts before we could enter the actual Spice Market. Those weeks of filming in Istanbul were packed into the minutes of motorcycle chase on the vast roof of the Grand Bazaar. While I was thrilled by the stunts my husband got puzzled that the directors have chosen Istanbul to shoot the Grand Bazaar and but then flew to Shanghai (instead of going to Maslak) for the backdrop of lit up skyscrapers.
“This is what people think of Turkey, honey!” I told him. “Oriental and a tad backward“. I see it a lot of this thinking in the dining choices foreign tourists make in Istanbul. In the pursuit of the local flavors travelers wow about archaic canteens (lokanta) where local hardware sellers dine but they are less interested in the places where local industrialists go for lunch. Do the hardware sellers really know their food better? Do you actually identify yourself with a hardware seller with choosing a place for lunch back in your home country? With all my respect to the Istanbul tradesmen’s canteens (esnaf lokantası) and forgiveness to all the mediocre food they have served me I beg you to have a better look around. And maybe get in a cab to a different kind of canteen. The Kantin.
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Photo courtesy Jotham Sietsma
Jotham and Seda both studied to become diplomats but it took them many not-so-diplomatic pursuits until they set off on a mission. Armed with serious culinary background, experience of living abroad and many dreams they have come to Istanbul to bring about the food revolution.
If you pass by and glance at the window of Gram you would be sure it is a pastry shop. With gigantic meringues, with tiny sandwiches where pungent tulum cheese is hidden between the toasted buns and with best-looking brownies in Istanbul. You would think it is yet another Turkish take on foreign food which makes you long for the original. You would be so wrong. Because if you - with Alice-like courage to enter a rabbit hole - pass the meringues-graced counter you will see a small dining room and equally small kitchen. And this is an attempt to show how Turkish food can be exciting and trendy. This is Gram.
My solo dining in Istanbul started a few years ago when drained out of energy by the exorbitant workload of a consultant I was coming for long weekends to re-charge and savor Istanbul and its food. Those were my rendezvous with the city itself when I could have it all for myself. Istanbul reciprocated my intentions and proved a very friendly place for a solo female traveler.
Sun, good food, brief walks in Sultanahmet that supply your annual portion of male attention, numerous shopkeepers ready to please, hamam pampering, cooking classes and concerts you can attend without being intimidated by your couple-lessness. And on top of this - plentiful opportunities to meet other solo travelers when you feel like joining forces to attack a good eatery.
