Istanbul Dining Out

Dining with a view in Istanbul

    Standing outside her restaurant just behind the Marmara Pera hotel in Istanbul, Ece Aksoy acknowledges the enormous debt she and her colleagues owe to this city`s rich and complex history. “Ottoman cooking was the first real fusion cooking,” she says.

Aksoy, 68, has cooked for more than 30 years at the restaurant named after her and her cooking remains exciting, particularly for any lover of vegetables. This was proved by her modern renditions of simple salads, including tomato, onion and cheese; beans done three ways; yoghurt, cucumber, purslane and pomegranate seeds; and a thin pasta tossed with curds and walnuts.

It is a further tribute to her cooking and personality that this restaurant`s continuing popularity defies a basic rule for success in this dynamic city. In Istanbul, a view either across towards Asia or down towards the Old City is considered essential for restaurants. Ece Aksoy is tucked away in a narrow street with no view. Even the pavement on which its four outdoor tables and a dozen stools are positioned is frequently invaded by cars.

A great view has been vital in the continuing popularity of Sunset Grill & Bar, which Baris Tansever opened 15 years ago with no previous experience. His high hopes of the location set in a park that he leases from the city council have not been confounded.

Tansever has followed principles that are essential to any restaurant`s success, constantly innovating, initially by introducing sushi, then more Turkish dishes and finally by buying up the cellar of mature imported wines collected by a former private banker. And by creating a space on cooler high ground that can seat up to 300 with views across the Bosphorus far below, Tansever delivers what his fellow citizens demand of their restaurants during the hot and humid summer.

Many restaurateurs move up river to higher, cooler, locations by the second half of May (which results in them being referred to colloquially as butterflies). As we cruised up the Bosphorus the following morning we saw waiters laying up outdoor tables, on both sides of the shipping channel, with a speed and precision that would have impressed any army sergeant-major.

Back on dry land, I spoke to Gerhard Struger, the cosmopolitan general manager of the Swissôtel Bosphorus hotel, who put the importance of geography into context. We were in the bar at Gaja on the 16th floor of the Swissôtel with views to the Old City and the mouth of the Bosphorus in the distance, and the Besiktas football stadium down below. Struger told me: “As far as I am concerned this city has the nicest footprint of any I have ever worked in. But a view is crucial and so too is outdoor seating from now until the end of September.”

Struger went on to highlight his views by listing two contrasting examples of recent restaurant openings from London. While the Japanese restaurant Roka has prospered, having taken over a former fish restaurant on the banks of the Bosphorus, its Chinese counterpart Hakkasan was trading less well, he said, because it was located in a shopping mall with only limited outdoor seating.

Probably only Sydney offers its restaurateurs so many locations by the water`s edge but Istanbul`s position on leafy hills between two continents is more dramatic. To succeed, any restaurateur must also take into consideration one other distinctive factor: Istanbul residents like to go out in numbers and when they sit down to eat they are not in any hurry to leave. Turning tables, by arranging two sittings in one evening, is just not acceptable here. Indeed, when customers do finally leave in the early hours, the traffic can be as congested as it is at rush hour.

Perhaps the need to look after their customers has helped generate a city of such distinctive restaurateurs. Alongside Aksoy, I was impressed by the personalities behind two other restaurants.

Bebek Balikci, in the salubrious Bebek neighbourhood, belongs to Ertugrul Karabulut, who began in the restaurant business 47 years ago as a busboy before buying this elegant fish restaurant on the water`s edge. This vast experience, he explains, has taught him to focus on attention to detail, which was reflected in excellent mezze and perfectly grilled fish. I was delighted to hear that it is still considered a compliment to the chef if one picks the latter clean with one`s fingers.

Batur Durmay, of Asitane restaurant, comes from a trading family and was initially destined for the diplomatic service before his family opened the Kariye Hotel and converted the basement and outside courtyard into an area that would satisfy their own passion for good food and, in particular, for the dishes of the Ottoman empire.

Today, Asitane`s menu comprises only dishes that featured in the kitchens of the royal palaces during this period and provided my introduction to almond soup from the 16th century; Ottoman hummus slightly sweetened with cinnamon and currants; and from the special menu that currently celebrates Fatih Sultan Mehmet`in, who conquered what was then Constantinople just over 556 years ago, Sultan`s Yahni, a lamb and chicken stew with chickpeas and cumin.

Source: http://www.ft.com

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