Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [142]
Rumeli Café (Divanyolu Caddesi, Ticarethane Sokak 8, Sultanahmet / +90 212 512 0008). Rumeli is one of the few Sultanahmet favorites, with traditional Turkish, Mediterranean, and Greek dishes, all well prepared. The interior is warm and cozy, with exposed-brick walls and dark wood floors, and a fireplace in the upstairs room. In warm weather there is seating on an outdoor patio. Rumeli is casual and reliably consistent, with something for just about everyone—grilled fish, pasta, salads, hot and cold meze, vegetarian selections, chicken shish kebab, lamb, etc.—and the service is quite friendly.
Tarihi Selim Usta Sultanahmet Köftecisi (Divanyolu 12 / +90 212 513 1438). The long name simply translates to “Historical Sultan Ahmet Köfte Restaurant,” and simple but very tasty meatballs are what you’ll find here. In fact, the only other items on the menu are a delicious white-bean salad and ayran, the popular yogurt drink. The köfte are very fresh because there is such high turnover—as has been the case for more than eighty years. Though this is listed in many guidebooks, it’s also very popular with locals (mostly men, by the way) and is inexpensive.
360 Istanbul (İstiklâl Caddesi 311, Beyoğlu / +90 212 251 1042 / 360istanbul.com). Located in the historic Mısır apartment building on the seventh and eighth floors (you take the elevator to the seventh floor and then walk up one flight to the rooftop), 360 is a trendy bar, restaurant, and club, and I am a huge fan. Everyone told me 360 is a better place for drinks than dinner, but I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner there, though I would never call it amazing. “Amazing” is the word I would use, however, to describe it as a venue for drinks. 360 is essentially a glass cube on top of a building, with a true 360-degree view. “Your World Is 360” is the motto of this unique space, with really cool circular sofas and a bar with unusual drinks. You can buy the menu (I did). You can buy a CD (I did). And if you are so inclined, you can sit outside on the terrace for hours and hours. (I didn’t, but only because my friend Sinan was anxious to show me and my friend Maha more of Istanbul at night.)
INTERVIEW
Engin Akin
Writer and cookbook author Anya von Bremzen—who has referred to Istanbul as “a hallucinatory experience”—is a frequent contributor to Food & Wine, where her-piece on Turkish cook and hostess Engin Akin (known as Turkey’s Julia Child and Martha Stewart rolled into one) appeared in the April 2001 issue. As this good piece (“Engin’s Empire”) is easily accessible online (foodandwine.com), I decided not to include it here, though I urge you to read it as it’s loaded with excellent culinary tips.
I had hoped to meet Engin Akin when I was last in Istanbul, but she was in New York at the time, so we have been communicating ever since by e-mail. I asked her if she would still recommend the shops and restaurants she visited with Anya, since this piece appeared eight years ago, and she assured me she still frequents each one. As Akin also writes a weekly food column for the daily newspaper Vatan and welcomes interested foodies to her cooking school in Ula, near Bodrum (details follow), I asked her about new places and culinary delights she’s enthusiastic about now:
Q: Have you been shopping at any new food markets, and can you recommend some places to eat that are your current favorites?
A: Istanbul has changed since the Food & Wine piece. People are more seriously interested in food than before and in fresh produce markets. So markets are once again a serious business that is a requirement of quality living. Bodrum has a great market on Fridays—fresh produce,