Friday, July 26, 2013

Dinner on the Bosphorus at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill

I love experiences that heighten the senses. It was with great anticipation that I accepted an invitation to dine at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill. It's not everyday that one is invited to dine where sultans did, in an Ottoman palace setting, no less.

Earlier this year, I had had my first hammam in Istanbul at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski. Knowing the excellence that the Kempinski Hotel group brought to the operation of their properties, I knew that dinner at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski would be just as divine.
Outside the actual palace,
the gates for arriving water craft
gave a hint of the Bosphorus beauty to come.
Spectacular flowers
greet guests on entry to the hotel:
roses, orchids, lilies, and my favorite:
hydrangeas
I glanced up above the reception desk
to appreciate for a moment
the way one would arrive
at the Çırağan Palace
back in Ottoman times.
 The stately Laledan restaurant
where the weekly Sunday brunch is held.
I would pass through Laledan on my way to the
outdoor Bosphorus grill.
Every inch of the grounds
contribute to relaxing guests.
 
Palm trees and salvia create a
destination entrance
to the Bosphorus Grill.
My hostesses:
Lara and Ciler,
two dynamic young professional
Turkish women who are
superb stewards of the hotel's legacy.
 Lara and Ciler
recommended we try
a Turkish wine from
Bozcadda Island.
 
Corvus Corvus
came from
a high-tech boutique winery
started by an Istanbul architect
and his wife.
They had left everything
to move to the island
and had begun to make wine.
 How romantic.
Children would love the Bosphorus Grill
because the boats come extra close
to see the Palace and the property.
Sezai Erdoğan
is the first Turkish
Executive Chef
at Çırağan Palace Kempinski
in Istanbul,
a pioneering achievement.
Aferin!
 
He is in charge of all the restaurant
and banquet kitchens
within the hotel.
 
Soon after Chef Erdoğan
came by to wish us a good meal,
 Mother Nature added to the evening's enjoyment
by rolling in a mighty thunderstorm
 from the Black Sea:
The storm was so much fun to experience!
The storm came quickly
from the Black Sea,
changed the skies over the Bosphorus
and poured down rain,
and just as quickly,
moved on to the Marmara Sea
at the other end of the Bosphorus.
When the rain stopped,
we went to the banquet area to peek
at what was on offer.
Turkey has extraordinary fruits
during the summer season,
especially Adana watermelon,
fresh melons, apricots, and pears.
 
Notice too, the large Medjool dates
which are
traditionally used to break
a Ramazan fast
due to the amount of sweet, filling, flesh
found in a single date.
That's important for those who have been fasting
since before sunrise.
Eating one date immediately
upon the end of a day's fast
removes the edge of hunger.

 There was a beautiful salad bar.
I resisted.
When in Turkey,
why have salad,
when Turkish chefs
prepare sumptuous mezes
to offer a bit of this and a bit of that?
Oh, and here they are.
Choices upon choices.

Green chicken curry with bamboo shoot
and cashew nut
Sautéed oyster mushrooms with fresh herbs
Grilled baby fennel with carrots
Ratatouille with basil
My final selection of mezes.
Believe me, it was hard to choose.
Looking at the bottom left,
have you even seen smoked salmon and strawberries
paired like that?
That was an idea new to me -
and what a delicious combination.
It was Smoked salmon and avocado salad
with strawberry and balsamic sauce.
 
An eggplant meze up front
because Turkish chefs
know how to make eggplant sing.
This was a Soya marinated,
baked eggplant salad with and fried onions.
 
Fennel comfit with root vegetables,
cinnamon, and star anise
because somehow the Europeans have kept the secret
of how delicious fennel is to themselves.
America has yet to discover fennel
in a big way.
 
Purslane salad with yogurt, garlic and peanuts
(not only is it a delicious salad green,
purslane is a very healthy super food),
also sweet potato salad
 with beef bacon and fresh herbs.
 
Potatoes gratin with truffles -
what satisfying comfort food.
 
The star of the plate was that tiny oven-roasted pear
with ricotta cheese and balsamic dressing.
Wow, it was fantastic.
 After our meze course,
we went back to the grill.
There were roasted lambs and chickens
and vegetables.
Chef d'parti Ibrahim Ünalan demonstrated
how he puts the naan on the side of the oven wall
with his naan mitt -
a detail kids would love
to watch performed
while they peer into the naan oven.
I had never seen this before.
So this is how naan is cooked!
There were so many meats
to choose from for a custom grill.
I choose two delicate lamb chops.
It was a hard choice, because the
pistachio-marinated beef tenderloin
also called out to me.
For those who preferred fish for their grill course,
there was mackerel, and salmon, and prawns
and many other fresh, top-quality choices.
Beef tenderloin
I can get back home,
but lamb done Ottoman-style
is not so easily found
in America.
I made the right choice!
 
 
Our final selection of the evening
was dessert.
What choices!
 Chef Ibrahim shows off
five different kinds of
homemade baklava.
 I think I'll have to try one
 of those small chocolate mousses
in the bottom right corner.
More tortes, cakes, and puddings.
Homemade mango sorbet
accompanied with chocolate mousse
and seasonal summer fruits.
What a beautiful finish to
a lovely dinner
at Çırağan Palace Kempinski's
Bosphorus Grill.
 
To see the entire menu
and price list,
 
 
 
You may also be interested in:
 
 
 
Yes, Empty Nest Expat is on Facebook. You can follow me there!
 
 
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Enjoying Istanbul Waffles

Every city has its famous street food. Istanbul is no different. I don't know how I made it three years without ever tasting one of Istanbul's famous waffles, but somehow I had. It was time to rectify that.

My friend Barb and I had met Internations friends for an afternoon exploring Istanbul's haunted mansion and first art museum in a working office.  After we finished, it was time for a treat. We adjourned to Barb's neighborhood, Bebek, and got in line for waffles (except the girl who was fasting for Ramazan - what discipline!).
There is always a line.
Waffles are beloved in Istanbul.
I admired this Turkish Dad
out making a memory
with his kids.
 We were right behind them
in line.
A waffle maker has to be
even more patient than
a Subway sandwich artist,
because there are even more toppings!
 
First goes on the base cream.
Here are some of your choices:
Nutella, Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate,
Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate,
Caramel, Strawberry, Pistachio,
Banana, and Coconut.
 
I chose Pistachio and White Chocolate.
 Then there is all the fruit.
I chose bananas, cherries,
strawberries, and kiwi.
That was pretty tame
given all of the
candied and fresh options.
 
 
 One last sprinkling
of chopped pistachios.
What I didn't expect
was how warm it would be.
I thought it would have lost its warmth
by the time he assembled it all, but no.
 
One delicious warm, gooey bite after another.
I am not waiting three more years to have another.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

An Afternoon of Art and Beauty at the Borusan Contemporary, Part Three

After enjoying a beautiful meal in the Borusan Contemporary museum café, and going up to the 10th floor to see the beautiful view of the Bosphorus from the very top turret in Istanbul's haunted mansion, it was time to explore the art in Turkey's very first office art museum.
This was 1/4 of a Jim Dine painting
with four similar panels.
The color was fantastic.
Every office was full of the most spectacular
coffee table art books.
I could lose myself for hours
just in the books.
These binoculars were in the corner office
so I assume the office belonged to the chairman.
Below, his minimalistic desk.
Someone correct me, if I have this misidentified.

 Color of all hues
uplifted my spirit.
Do they do the same to you?
 
I thought the collection focus
of color repetition
was brilliant.
 The beautiful salon or living room
off of the corner office
had a whimsical, jazzy artwork on the ceiling.
An endearing personal touch.
How could kids resist
even the beauty of this elevator shaft?
What memories this place would create
in the minds of the staff's children.
 
One of the most fun videos in the collection
was in the stairwell.
It showed the furniture and dishes
of a home living room
sliding back and forth on the floor
as a house
was slowly rocked back and forth.
 
I could imagine a child
standing in front of it for hours
and giggling nonstop at the fun of it.
 
To access videos from the collection, click here.
"Eyeballs" inspired by George Orwell.
 Love it!
One of the few Istanbul-specific photography pieces.
The Hagia Sophia in snow.
The wishing tree
Staff and the public
left their wishes.
I didn't even notice the white "profile"
when I saw this neon art up close.
It was only when I got home and
saw this photo taken from across the room
that I saw it was more than abstract.
 "21 Books"
by a Korean artist
 The quality of building materials
was an unending delight.
I marveled at the precise heft of this door.
Love this blue.
How children must want to run their hands
continually over this piece
just to explore the symmetry, color, and sound of it.
All this art makes one feel like a child!
 We waved goodbye to the museum guides
through the "haunted" grillwork.
Perili Köşk at dusk.
"Goodbye Haunted Mansion!
You were an absolute delight."

Imagine opening up your work office to random people every weekend. I found this to be a very generous act by Borusan Holding Co.

Thank you for sharing your gorgeous art with the public. To the folks at Borusan Contemporary, I say, "your generosity is yet another example of why Turkish hospitality is the best in the world."

You might also enjoy:

An Afternoon of Art and Beauty at the Borusan Contemporary, Part One

An Afternoon of Art and Beauty at the Borusan Contemporary, Part Two

Empty Nest Expat is on Facebook. You can "like" my page. I hope to see you there!

Monday, July 22, 2013

An Afternoon of Art and Natural Beauty at Borusan Contemporary, Part Two

Isn't discovery exciting? One of my rules of life is - there must be some element of discovery in every single day. The "haunted mansion" Barb and I and our Internations friends had come to explore was actually Turkey's very first office art museum.

During the week, people who worked there were making decisions about a portfolio of companies collected into Borusan Holding Company. On weekends, from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. the whole building gets opened up to the public to explore and enjoy.
The entrance to the haunted mansion
did not feature cobwebs.
Instead, it hinted at the art collection focus:
many contemporary,
and especially,
video installations.
This particular piece of art
created by a German artist
used solar energy to power propellers
and
musical instruments
that emitted pleasing tones
This temporary exhibit was entitled Datascapes.
On the surface,
these may look like black and white photographs
of extraordinary mountain vistas.
 
What you see, is not what you get.
Each photo had been manipulated to represent
a set of financial data.
 
I'll let you guess,
which vista goes with which financial data set:
Nasdaq '80-'09 ,
and HangSeng '80-'09,
and Lehman Brothers '92-'08.
 
What great fun!
And what a clever way for an investor
to internalize the pattern.
 
This data visualization fascinated me
as it was the first time I had seen it used
for an art museum application.
 
A blue dot represented a certain collector.
A black dot represented a certain artist;
and a green dot represented a prediction
for an artist or a collector.
 
I found it to be a very cool
marketing, pricing, and strategy tool.
 Wow!
The breathtaking conference room
near the very top of the building.
Our museum guide shared that it illustrated
one of the focuses of the collection:
color repetition.
 
It made me wonder if there were any works of art
by Turkish artist Setenay Özbek
in the collection.
Her work would fit right in.
A view to the right
featured the ancient Rumeli Hisari fortress
on the Bosphorus
and closer in,
a minaret complete with an
emblematic crescent
at the top.
From the center end of the conference room,
I think it would be impossible to be bored
waiting for a meeting to start, don't you?
Instead of looking right or center,
 let's now look left,
 where there are doors
leading out to the terrace.
 
Don't you want to see the view
of the Bosphorus
from out there?
I do.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Who doesn't love container ships?
And that glorious mansion or palace!
I wonder what it is.
That's the Black Sea beyond the ship.
The view closer in of the neighborhood.
A constant thought I had
during my visit is how
every aspect of the building
would delight any child
who comes to visit.
 
Yes, this is seating,
but how would a five-year-old use this?

It doesn't roll.
I checked.
 
So what's at the very top
of the haunted mansion?
In the very top turret?
Let's go look.
A perfect little spot for
two to four people
to close a deal.
Notice the color repetition
of coffee.
Magnificent.
 
 
Come back tomorrow to explore the offices of Borusan Contemporary in my third post on Istanbul's haunted mansion or Perili Köşk. Now you have discovery in your day too!
 
 
In case you missed it, here's my first post
on Turkey's first office art museum,
Borusan Contemporary:
 
 
 
Some additional posts about art you might enjoy:
 
"CuriousSouls" Gather in Istanbul for Discussion


What's there to do in Wichita, Kansas? Why not see breathtaking art?


Welcome to Capitalism!


Celebrating 90 Years of Artist Zenděk Sýkora

 
Yes, Empty Nest Expat is on Facebook. Follow my blog there with a "like."
 

 
 
 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

An Afternoon of Art and Natural Beauty at Borusan Contemporary, Part One

Our quest:
to explore this "haunted mansion"
My friend Barbara proposed an afternoon outing yesterday. I was deep into a good book so I took much convincing.

"It's too beautiful to stay indoors!" she said. It was beautiful too. This summer temperatures in Istanbul this year have been wonderfully temperate. "O-k-a-y," I said reluctantly. Sometimes you just have to trust your friend and go with her.

This was our quest: to explore this magnificent old building from 1910. It's called the Perili Köşk, or Haunted Mansion. For years, it had an outer shell only. The entire building had never been fully finished as war had interrupted construction. While it sat in that state, the building would make noises that spooked the neighborhood as materials shifted around. Hence, its reputation as haunted.
 We walked from Barbara's place
in the Bebek neighborhood
along the captivating Bosphorus corniche
to Perili Köşk Istanbul,
about a 15-minute walk.
The renovation of the building
 by architect Hakan Kıran
had been done perfectly;
all the new materials enhanced
the magnificence of the 10-story building.
 
Our lunchtime view:
an Istanbul ferry under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
The Haunted Mansion had been renovated and updated with spectacular attention to detail. The inside was light, airy, and modern - not in a way that fought with the historic nature of the house, but in a way that uplifted the spirit and sharpened the senses.
 
The historic building has been leased to Borusan Contemporary Holding Company on a long-term lease. During the week, over 70 people worked there managing a portfolio of companies. On weekends, the building is opened up to the public to explore and enjoy. Not only is it a workplace, but an office art museum.
 
Our first stop was the second floor, where we were having lunch with Internations friends in the museum café.

This young Turkish woman
 had been fasting for Ramadan
since sunrise.
She sat with us at lunch,
 and as you can see,
she still had her humor.
This Polish woman
was such a firecracker.
She had come from practicing dressage
all morning
for a competition in Bulgaria
next month.
Serdar, the organizer for our outing,
had just been to Ecuador
for a homeopathy convention
where he was the lone Turk in attendance.
He had enjoyed serving as the
"flagbearer for his country."
Every spot in the café had an amazing view
of the Bosphorus
and the bridge and shipping traffic.
 
It was time to go in and explore the rest of the building. Our museum guide had arrived to show us around. I had no idea what to expect because I had not even heard of the building before that day. Come back for my next post on the Borusan Contemporary to see what we discovered:

An Afternoon of Art and Natural Beauty at Borusan Contemporary, Part Two

An Afternoon of Art and Natural Beaty at Borusan Contemporary, Part Three
 
 
You might enjoy a few other posts about architecture:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yes, Empty Nest Expat is on Facebook, follow me there!
 
Travel Sites Catalog All Traveling Sites Expat Women—Helping Women Living Overseas International Affairs Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory expat Czech Republic website counter blog abroadWho links to me? Greenty blog