On Valentine’s Day eve we were informed that the power would be out in our neighborhood from 9 AM to 5 PM on Valentine’s Day, not that the holiday meant anything. Some Turks do celebrate about the same way American’s do – with gifts of flowers and/or candy and perhaps a meal out for mom. Anyhow, it became clear that we ought to find something to do away from Askon Residence. Ted, my neighbor Judy, and I decided we’d go to brunch at a fancy restaurant in the city center. It was the perfect decision.
First, as we were walking down to the bus, one of my students drove by and offered us a ride. He really didn’t know where it was but called another student – who happened to be on duty as an air traffic controller at the Gaziantep airport – for directions. In fact, he called several times. I hope there were no planes waiting to land.
We had been a bit concerned about going to this very well-known restaurant on a holiday like Valentine’s day, but we went early enough to get a table. In fact, only a few tables had “reserved” signs on them. The spread was amazing. We began with the soup. The woman ladling it out spoke some English. She determined we were from the US and was very effusive about how happy she was to have us there. No sooner had we returned to our table than a waiter appeared with a little stand flying Turkish and American flags. What a surprise. Then waiters kept coming, bringing us specialties. One was a liver kebab (we had passed a grill set up outside the front door as we entered the restaurant). Another were slices of lavash (actually the “sh” is an s with a little tail), which is nothing more than a white flour tortilla, with slightly sweetened cream poured over it and topped with fresh pistachios. Finally, someone appeared with an omelet fresh out of the pan. And we hadn’t even visited the real buffet yet!
Where to begin?! As is typical, the savory outweighed the sweet. There were all sorts of olives, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers as well as a huge assortment of cheeses. There were salads made from different grains or finely chopped vegetables, with or without nuts. Some were quite spicy. Of course, there were breads, some leavened, some unleavened and some made from philo dough. Some were filled with a mild cheese. Then there was the usual spread of jams and a huge platter of comb honey. Hard-boiled eggs and sausages could be found in covered steam trays. The dessert table had fruit, both fresh and dried, and cakes. One was a chocolate ice cream cake. We shared a piece of that.
On our walk home we passed this pistachio orchard and research center, which only a few years ago was probably well outside the city limits. Now it's surrounded by apartment buildings.
After breakfast, we spent several hours wandering home. It was about five miles but we stopped for tea and coffee in the mall. The nice thing about the walk is that we were in a park most of the way. And I need not tell you that the only other thing I ate that day was a yogurt.
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