July 30, 2012
Fish in Istanbul: Natural Selection(s)
IstanbulIn the evolutionary process of the Istanbul fish restaurant, there was a moment in the late 1990s when the amphibious, shore-hugging boat restaurants crawled out of the Bosphorus and became land dwellers. Overnight, yellow Wellington boots became black loafers as seafaring grill men became restaurateurs and waiters. Some rue the day the municipality cleared the…
July 7, 2014
Aigaion: Holey Tradition
Athens | By Irene Theotokatou
AthensEditor’s note: We’re sad to report that Aigaion has closed. Loukoumades! In the long, slow afternoons that would follow the enormous Sunday lunches with the full complement of our parents’ friends, all one had to say was that word, and the calm would be broken. Women (and sometimes men) would instantly bustle into the kitchen,…
November 22, 2016
Hadramot Yemen: Beyond Falafel
IstanbulIstanbul's conservative Fatih district has perhaps the highest concentration of Syrian refugees in the city, and the tree-lined Akşemsettin Street boasts a staggering number of Syrian eateries, from spacious sit-down affairs with full menus to hole-in-the-wall, standing-room-only kiosks slinging shawarma, fried chicken, and falafel. Having popped up rapidly amid the waves of Syrians fleeing the…