When Constantinople fell in 1453, Kadıköy was a remote rural settlement called Chalcedon. By the late 19th century, the district had become home to people from all over the Ottoman Empire and beyond. There were Turkish-born Muslims, Jews, Armenians, and Greeks, as well as White Russian exiles, Italian stonemasons, and German engineers. They all left their mark through architecture and food, tucked away in backstreets and around the corners in Kadıköy. Here’s where to look.
Çarşı
In Çarşı, the market area near the ferry wharves, crowds traverse narrow pedestrian laneways, teaming with butchers, coffee houses, bakers, fish restaurants, clothing stores, and the like. Small, centuries-old Orthodox churches nestle on corners. At Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir, they’ve been making lokum, chewy morsels of Turkish delight, since 1777, when the shop was founded by a migrant from the Black Sea. The Ottoman Sultans were once amongst their best customers and after the first exquisite bite, it’s easy to see why.
A few blocks away, an elegant, multi-roomed Greek mansion houses the Viktor Levi Şarap Evi, or Wine House. Viktor was a young sardine fisherman who discovered wine-making on a visit to the Aegean island of Bozcaada in the early 20th century. He started growing his own grapes there before opening the first Viktor Levi Wine House in 1914. Today, guests can wine and dine in the calm of an interior done out with stylish and cosy booths surrounded by photos of famous diners, or outdoors in the lush courtyard garden.
For a traditional Türk kahve, head for one of the coffee houses lining Mühüdar Caddesi, right in the center of Çarşı. The coffee is made by mixing fine grounds and water together in a tin-lined copper pot called a cezve, and heating it on hot sand. When you’re finished, join the fast-moving queue at Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi and buy a bag of freshly ground coffee from Turkey’s foremost coffee supplier to take back home.
Pålegg, featuring Scandinavian cuisine in a menu based on smørrebrød, designed by a Turkish chef who worked in Norway’s first Michelin-starred….
Yeldeğermeni
In Yeldeğirmeni, on the opposite side of Altıyol, architectural treasures built by workers on the Haydarpaşa Railway Station line the streets. A school built for the children of German engineers is in the same row as the Italian-designed Valpreda Apartments, one of Istanbul’s first-ever apartment blocks, near a former French lise built on a pilgrimage site. Now there’s Pålegg, featuring Scandinavian cuisine in a menu based on smørrebrød, designed by a Turkish chef who worked in Norway’s first Michelin-starred….
By Lisa Morrow
