The Times - March 11, 2006
THE NEW ISTANBUL
Designer shops, rooftop bars: the definitive guide to a changing city.
Ditch the kebab, bring on Istanbul's French quarter
Jill Hartley finds designer boutiques and rooftop bars all the rage.
Jill Hartley travelled with Exclusive Escapes
She stayed at Stablesgate House in Sultanahmet. Three nights cost from £594pp, based on two sharing, including return flights with Turkish Airlines and a private guide for half a day. Four sharing from £547pp.
If Tony Blair feels he is sinking too low in the polls at home, I suggest an ego-boosting trip to Turkey, where he is almost as revered as David Beckham. We wondered why the Turks were being so friendly on our final day in Istanbul (the restaurant where we had lunch even reduced the bill), until we saw Jack Straw’s mugshot staring back at us from the morning front pages.
It was the day after the marathon session where he finally persuaded all 25 EU nations to begin membership talks with Turkey, a country of 70 million, 98 per cent of them Muslim. They’ve been waiting for this for 42 years, but if our taxi driver — lane hopping like a kangaroo on speed — is anything to go by, the Turks are a nation in a hurry.
Visit Istiklal Caddesi, the Oxford Street of Istanbul, on a Saturday night and everyone seems to be going somewhere at once. Still, if you can stand crowds and the world’s maddest drivers — yes, worse than Athens or Cairo — Istanbul is the place to be. The buzz on the streets feels like Prague ten years ago.
On our first morning in the old town of Sultanahmet, we met up with our guide Hande, a strong-willed woman in her 30s, who elbowed us through the tour parties into the Blue Mosque and neighbouring Hagia Sofia. Winding up her spiel, she told us: “Women may be segregated in the mosque, but not in our society. Women work here for equal pay, yet most work harder than men. We are the modern dervishes.”
So saying she whirled us through 1,000 years of history in a flash of marble, gold mosaics and Ottoman splendours before marching us off to the commercial treasures of the Grand Bazaar with its graceful arches and domes. “You tell me what you want — antiques, carpets, textiles, gold, silver, ceramics — and we go there now,” she said.
Isn’t this always the tricky bit? We praised the workmanship and quality of the artefacts, but pleaded poverty and the desire to get beyond the tourist honeytraps. It didn’t take long. Just past the grand shops we found a bazaar where young men were haggling over cheap fake designer jeans and buying polyester soccer shirts next to a stall selling nargile, the local water pipes.
Farther downhill we were led by a smorgasbord of smells into the Spice Market, where you can fill a big shopping bag with olives, seasonings, shiny chestnut-coloured dates and powdery Turkish delight in pretty pastels, all for a couple of pounds. They also do a good line in fake Le Creuset in baby blue and pink.
Take a cab to Nisantasi, a Knightsbridge in microcosm with Harvey Nicks on its way, where over-made-up matrons pick at salads in street cafés, while paunchy men badly park their Porsches and Harleys. The young and truly beautiful lunch to be seen on thin-crust pizza at Mezzaluna.
Stella McCartney’s new shop is there, alongside Sisley, Vuitton, Valentino, Tod’s and Marella. Why be surprised? Turkey has already given us fashion designers Rifat Ozbek and Hussein Chalayan.
For extra proof that Istanbul has ditched the kebab, head for Fransiz Sokagi, a cobbled French quarter with Edith Piaf and the whiff of Gitanes on the air. Restaurants with names such as Le Caprice, Ooh La La and Coup de Foudre serve up moules and coq au vin to eager locals. It’s kitsch, yet compelling. On the roof terrace at the Café Eclipse we sat next to two teenage girls in school uniform enjoying beer and chips.
But to truly feel the vibe of the new Istanbul, visit the centre of Beyoglu and neighbouring Taksim Square. At first it could be any other European city, but look closer and those blokes on mobile phones are drinking tea, not lager. Among the young girls with bare midriffs twittering in groups in Oxxo, equivalent to Top Shop, a handful still wear headscarves and traditional Muslim dress.
Another difference is the friendliness. We jumped out of a cab one evening almost into the arms of a craggy old man, dressed like a Left Bank existentialist. “Ah, you are English.You must come to my new exhibition,” he declared, thrusting invitations at us. It wouldn’t happen in Paris.
Brazenly poking our noses one morning into 360, a new rooftop club on Istiklal Caddesi, the barman left the washing-up to show us round. “I love your Queen so much,” he said. Only after some faltering starts at tiaras and corgis did we realise that he meant the band led by the late Freddie Mercury. We also met dancers who used to be au pairs in Bedford — no wonder they prefer Istanbul — an artist who insisted on showing us her studio, and a restaurant owner who offered us a partnership deal as soon as he realised we were British.
On our last day we enjoyed a cold beer in Leb-i derya, another stylish new rooftop bar. Admiring the Bosphorus views, I toppled off my stool and almost tipped into the street seven storeys below. There were only a few centimetres of plastic screen protecting me from oblivion.
So, Turkey may want to join the EU, but could such buildings, and there are scores of them, pass stringent EU regulations? Another reason to visit Istanbul now, while it’s still swimming joyfully against the tide of bureaucracy.
ISTANBUL, THE BASICS
RESTAURANTS
Changa, Siraserviler Caddesi 87/1, Taksim
Fusion food from New Zealander Peter Gordon.
Mezzaluna, Abdi Ipekci Caddesi 38/1, Macka
Pasta power-lunching with the fashion set.
Fifth Floor, Soganci Sokak 7
Bordello-red decor, guests and views more interesting than the food.
Velas, Istiklal Caddesi 88/7, Beyoglu
One of six rooftop bars and eateries, some serving until 5am. Classic Mediterranean.
BARS AND CAFÉS
Almost anywhere in the French quarter, for example,
Chocolate Macka, Eytum Caddesi 33, Macka.
Funky loos and art downstairs.
Leb-i derya, Kumbaraci Yokusu 115/7
Rooftop views, serves a young crowd until 3.30am.
South Park, Kumbaraci Yokusu 149
Film memorabilia, live soul, blues and jazz.
CLUBS
Babylon, Seyhbender Sokak 3, Asmahmescit, Tunel
The city’s hippest live music venue.
360, Istiklal Caddesi 32/311
Rooftop club in Beyoglu, house, lounge and hip-hop.
Secret, Saka Salim Cikmazi 3, is the newest gay club.
The best guide to clubs and the growing gay scene is Time Out Istanbul, monthly.
WHERE TO STAY
Ask for your own Turkish bath at the 22-room Hotel Empress Zoe
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul
WHAT TO READ
The funkiest guidebook, with a great section on best hotels, is Istanbul (Time Out, £12.99). The Eyewitness Travel Guide to Istanbul (Dorling Kindersley, £12.99) is a good choice for a quick rundown on sights and history. Istanbul (Lonely Planet, £11.99), with excellent budget room selections, will go down well with the easyJet crowd.
Istanbul: the basics was written by Jeremy Seal, author of A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey In Search of a Hat (Picador, £7.99)
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