merhaba, İstanbul

During the Easter holiday we went to Istanbul. It's fascinating to see a metropolitan area of Turkey, because there is a sizable population of Turks here in Munich from the Gastarbeiter days. It was nice to experience such an historically rich area with incredible hospitality and to better understand why Turkish pride shines through here. The people were so kind and seemed genuinely happy. I'd be happy to live near the water and have delicious food, too.
(As a side note: I love exploring the grocery stores and shops around the Hauptbahnhof area here in Munich. I affectionately call it 'Little Istanbul' around Landwehrstraße. There are always incredible products and it is hands down the best place to get some really great baklava.)

Karaköy Güllüoğlu

Here are some of the places and things we saw during our visit...

Istanbul panorama

Hacı Bekir turkish delight

protection from the evil eye

Hafız Mustafa

balık ekmek at the Galata Bridge

Sunday at the Bosphorus

Iznik tiles

Meze by Lemon Tree

Crossing two continents

Colors of the Golden Horn

Galata tackle shop

Galata catch

Simit Sesame Rings + Salgam drink

Istanbul Street Foods

Grand Bazaar Lights

Egyptian Spice Market + Pul Biber

Asmalimescit

Galata Tower view

Basilica Cistern

şiş kebap + Turkish coffee

Taksim Tünel

Orient Express Train Station

Topkapı Palace

Turkish Delight

If you are planning a trip, these links may be helpful:
Spotted by Locals
The Guide Istanbul
Hacı Bekir
Karaköy Güllüoğlu
Hafız Mustafa
Istanbul Eats
Meze by Lemon Tree
Faros

(If you're an American you'll also need a visa upon arrival, which costs $20. I only had £ in my wallet, so I attempted to pay the 15£, but that was declined, although the window said it was accepted. We had to go to a nearby ATM that dispensed dollars, euros, and turkish lira so I could pay. As I returned to pay with dollars the man behind the window was counting money including £, so you probably want to bring the cash that is associated with your country to avoid that hassle.)

On our next visit to Turkey I'd like to visit:
Cappadocia
The Şakirin Mosque
Ephesus
Pamakkale

The next post will be about Mosques + Churches of Istanbul.

Books: Pierre Hermé Pastries + Henri's Walk to Paris

If you love pastries as much as I do, you'll be delighted that Pierre Hermé Pastries is soon to be released with more of his incredible creations.

It's supposed to come out March 1st, but when I pre-ordered his macarons book it came a bit quicker.

[if you want to read more about an apprenticeship with master pâtissier Pierre Hermé, check out  Food Beam, written by Fanny, a pastry chef / food blogger]

Let me know if you end up making something from the book, too! [here's an excerpt]

I think I will be making something from Pierre Hermé for my brother-in-law's wedding festivities in March.

Another great Parisian related re-release is Henri's Walk to Paris by Saul Bass. The illustrations are spectacular!

Send me an email or leave yours in the comments if you'd like a 10% off coupon and free shipping globally (before 29 February) on these books or whatever else you'd order from the book depository. (As always, I'm not receiving anything for these recommendations, but I love to share.)

San Francisco

We opted to avoid the holiday travel chaos, which meant a delayed trip to the US.

This was the best option after having several airline mishaps in the years past - driving from Washington DC to Ohio on Christmas Eve three years ago, and nearly getting stranded in El Paso two years ago.

Thankfully this year the weather decided to also cooperate with us.

Before our biannual Ohio visit, we stopped in San Francisco for 5 days to visit our dear friends, Emily & Jeremy, and their new pup - Banjo.

Having visited San Francisco twice before, it was so nice to see the city from our friends' view points and to simply catch up more on life after Germany. We sure miss them.

San Francisco is a great city;  fog swept rolling hills, inventive restaurants, creative people, and a lot of high tech industries. The only downsides are the amount of homeless people and dog poo littered sidewalks.

There are also many public parks speckled around and warm weather year round to make it incredibly livable.

Oh, how we missed the variety of American food. The portions may be larger than in many places, but it's the best way to enjoy a meal - by sharing great company and delicious foods. We did a lot of eating and this is certainly the city for that.

A few of the restaurants we visited included:

Tartine ... this is the legendary pastry shop with long lines that are worth the wait.
Nopa ... for a great New Year's eve dinner
Umami Burger ... waygu burgers
Tacolicious ... I will dream about these tacos and margaritas for a long long time. They are perfection. The tuna tostadas were my favorite, but I don't think you can go wrong.
Mosto... the tequila bar right next to tacolicious, making waiting time that much better.
Beach Chalet ... as close to a California beachside biergarten as it gets - with a veggie hops burger.
Tornado Pub ... an endless array of beers from around the world.
Mission Chinese ... this pop up restaurant has caused quite a stir and is now here to stay - don't miss it! The food is crazy good and the rap music is a hilarious blast from the past. The salt cod fried rice and the thrice cooked bacon were probably my favorites.

Bi-Rite Creamery ... delicious ice cream, which is extra sweet to enjoy in Delores Park with great weather in the middle of Winter. They also have an ice cream cook book coming out later this year! 

Chantal Guillon macarons... a touch of France in California. 

Ici ... (Berkeley) I'm not sure what the deal is, but sadly it was better the last time we went

Saigon Sandwiches .... Banh Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches

If you are planning a trip check out the following:
Jamie Oliver's San Francisco tips... We visited many of his recommendations, although the magazine came out a month after our trip.
7x7 Big Eat List of 2012... plenty more restaurants to try
7x7 Big To-Do List... 100 quintessential San Francisco experiences

Not all of our time was spent eating... we also did a lot of walking. I always seem to forget - or mentally block out - how impossibly slow and archaic the public transport is even in the biggest US cities.

With the California sun shining brightly and only needing to wear a jacket I wasn't sure if I was in some sort of alternate reality. A heavy dose of sunshine in the middle of the Winter is really is amazing and was the perfect way to start the new year. Those year-round beaches are such a luxury, too.

Fort Funston ... this beach is so unique. Dogs and their owners stroll along, splash in the waves, and find little treasures washed ashore. I'd go to take it all in even if I didn't have a dog, but I really can't wait to get one.

Tilden Park... for incredible Bay area views and a nice nature stroll.

Street art... lots of self expression around town 

St. Mary's Cathedral... home of the "two o'clock titty", at two o'clock the sun's channels its own Mary Katherine Gallagher to give the church it's own perky bust. 

What a great place to start the new year. Even the fog couldn't hold those fireworks back this year. 

whites

I have an ever expanding collection of white dishware. A lot of pieces are typical, but then I love the quirky everyday things made ceramic.

These are a couple pieces I picked up recently:

pillow plates - made in Ohio for eleven madison park in New York City

berry punnets - for my love of blueberries

pâtisserie plates - like those in European cafés, for cakes, cookies, and confections.

I love having guests and giving them something a little unexpected in terms of servingware. 

It's the little things.

Tartine

While I actually prefer savory foods, I do have a weak spot for really well made pastries.

They tend to be time intensive to make and slightly difficult to pare down, which can be troublesome if I'm baking for just the two of us. Those factors never usually stop me.

A few months ago Emily and Jeremy sent us the kind of care package that makes your heart skip a beat. It was filled with many treats from home, handmade items, and the Tartine cookbook.

The morning after our arrival in San Francisco we stopped at the actual location to sample Tartine's legendary array of foods. Despite having ample time to decide due to a line that wrapped around the building, I felt overwhelmed deciding exactly what to get. Since there were 5 of us it helped in being able to sample and share, so we ordered a lot of food.

[Here's the Tartine Menu if you want to plan in advance!]

As we waited we saw the pastry chefs working their magic through the window. Sometimes I think it would be so much fun to be a pastry chef, while other times I have to remind myself the job doesn't only entail eating all day and baker's hours aren't great for someone who loves sleeping.

Not one thing we had was just mediocre. I loved all of it.

I'm really looking forward to putting that book to work until we make it back to San Francisco again. Hopefully I can achieve similar results! 

Here's a video about the dedication and passion that goes into it all from the shop's owner.