Man!!  it takes a lot to surprise me, but seeing Istanbul for the first time was something i will never forget..
Ok! let me speak frankly! I had just come there directly from a 8-day shoot in Mumbai, India and words cannot describe how horrible that was.. !!
So- of course, everyone always says to me “Oh! You and your Istanbul!!  you go on and on as if it’s paradise on earth, but it’s only because you got there straight after Mumbai!”
Nonsense!!!
This is what i saw when we got there:

The incredible Bosphorous straits, the bridge spanning two continents shimmering across it like a necklace of diamonds.. the cool air laced with the scent of spices, the alleys filled with carts selling everything from roasted chestnuts to tins of saffron.. Oriental music drifting out from some tiny hidden club.. beautiful girls tripping down the cobbled streets on impossibly high heels, dressed impeccably.. and the minarets of scores of mosques, with the haunting calls to prayer of the Muezzin filtering through the air..

What a place! What history! What beauty! what culture! and of course..
WHAT FOOD!!!!

Now, at the risk of sounding like a paid commercial (which of course is NOT  the case!) I will tell you that i was in Istanbul to film an episode of “Duet”, at Restaurant Feriye- with chef Vedat Basharan-
and everyone who knows me (and that includes the entire crew) knows that Istanbul, and this particular chef, and the entire experience there, was my favourite of them all… First of all, Chef Vedat Basharan is no ordinary chef.
He is a PhD in Ottoman History, and furthermore, he even speaks and reads an ancient and almost forgotten dialect of Arabic which was used in the days of the Sultans! He learned this archaic language to translate ancient historical recipes from the kitchens of the Sultans themselves!
And these recipes are what he prepares and serves at Feriye- which i must now say is the MOST BEAUTIFUL restaurant I have ever seen in my life!! 2 meters from the kitchen IS THE Bosphorous Straits!! and here is photo to prove it!!

Not only that-He plays the kannun, which is an ancient instrument of the Ottoman Empire! and he is a master of traditional calligraphy as well!
And, of course, he is a world- class Chef, and I say that from the bottom of my heart!

His hospitality, generosity, and class, were unmatched in anyone i have met- When I arrived, in the evening, me and the crew went to Feriye to check the location, and to check my ingredients etc for next day’s shoot- what i usually find in this situation is, a box of half-wilted products, and a note!
but, at Feriye- this is what i found:
His ENTIRE Brigade, including the manager of the restaurant, there, dressed in full kitchen whites, full crates of the VERY BEST PRODUCTS i have ever seen, and the most helpful, cool, and amazing crew i have ever seen!!! I thought i had died and gone to Heaven!
http://www.feriye.com/

I won’t even begin to post every detail about this experience in Istabul, because, let’s face it! it would go on and on for pages!  I will save some for later!!!
All i will say, is, Istanbul is one of the absolutely most exquisite cities i have ever set foot in- and the people and the food- well- both were mouth-wateringly beautiful, and left me with a ravenous thirst for more…

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