1. THE GUIDE ISTANBUL 18 19 MAY-JUNE 2015
FOOD&DRINKFOOD SHOPPING
Presented in tin canisters
and glass apothecary
bottles (complete with
cork stopper), the loose leaf teas
from Melez look like they could
be pastel punk set pieces from
Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette
movie. Directly inspired by the
prismatic and chaotic nature of
Istanbul, this kaleidoscopic range
of premium artisanal teas and
tisane expands the committed tea-
drinker’s tea options from a basic
daily choice between çay bardağı
(tea-glass sized) or çay fıncanı
(tea-cup sized).
Meaning mixed (or melée) in
Turkish, Melez Teas encourage
you to zen out as you observe the
falling leaves of the unique blends
slowly infuse into freshly boiled
water. The 10-strong collection
of white teas, green teas, black
teas and oolong teas are named
after abstract nouns, like ‘Beauty’
and ‘Balance’, that are also
subtle suggestions to be ‘Bold’,
be ‘Pure’, and be ‘Happy’. Some
of the blends are more direct
instructions to the mind, body and
soul: ‘Wake Up’, ‘Relax’, ‘Refresh’,
and, ‘Indulge’. But the message is
clear – mix and match the teas to
suit your personal routine and to
boost your lifestyle.
Delicious to boot, the Lifestyle
Teas are composed of enough
additional notes to make a
symphony. Classic tea notes
like bergamot, chamomile,
rooibos and mint jostle side
by side with detoxifying yerba
mate, cleansing lemongrass
and elderflower, skin-softening
jasmine and rose, and purifying
bai mudan (a white tea from
China). As a bonus, Melez Teas
are also packing serious levels
of antioxidants, vitamins and
minerals.
The ritual of a freshly brewed
cup of tea is one that creates
a space for mindfulness and
a time for social contact with
friends and family the world over.
It’s no secret that tea drinking
has a positive impact on an
individual’s wellbeing, hence
Melez’ mantra, and hashtag,
#teaforsanity.
You can either treat yourself to
the Melez Lifestyle Tea Collection
or subscribe to a monthly
top-up of one original tea, one
handcrafted tea blend, and one
unique tea accessory plus a
complementary brewing guide.
Melez Teas are available online at
www.meleztea.com.
Melez
Lifestyle
Teas

2. THE GUIDE ISTANBUL 20 21 MAY-JUNE 2015
FOOD&DRINKINTERVIEW
What inspired you to open
your own restaurant?
I always loved cooking for friends
and family but, of course, running
a restaurant is something else.
I studied economics and was a
professional windsurfer for 15
years. But I wasn’t satisfied with
my life, so I said to myself, “Okay
then, change your life.” Within a
few months I started working for a
small bistro. It was a real learning
curve. I always liked designing
and producing things, and I found
the gastronomic scene satisfied
my interests. But I still wanted
to do more on the designing side
of things and be more creative.
So, I started travelling around the
world and learning about how
chefs create cuisine the way that
I wanted to. On my travels I
learned a lot about avant-garde
restaurants and thought we
needed something like this in
Turkey. Although we have great
restaurants here, they are too
often focussed on just making
good food. What I wanted to
create was a restaurant that
was about the whole experience
of dining, and so I started the
Alancha project.
Why is food important to you?
Sharing is the most important
thing. I like to share food with
friends and colleagues. But for
me, food is not something that is
just about taste; it is a product
that you can play with. You can
experiment with the texture, the
flavors; I mean just think about
how many wonderful things you
can do with one egg. At Alancha
we are constantly playing with
food, rather than just cooking
a dish, which is only the end
product. We don’t just cook to
produce a result at the end; we
experiment and enjoy the entire
process.
Can you tell me about the
philosophy behind the food
at Alancha?
Our approach to Anatolian
cuisine was to dive into the
history of humankind in Anatolia.
There have been many nations
in this land, and we wanted to
explore the values of Anatolian
cuisine by highlighting its
multicultural heritage. We
combined Greek, French, Italian,
and Nordic influences with
traditional Turkish recipes to
create one streamlined menu.
Like nature, our menu is always
changing and evolving. It was
important to me that both the
Alancha restaurants reflect
the natural environment.
Everything from the décor to the
serving plates are inspired by
the natural landscape that our
seasonal ingredients come from.
I like foraging for ingredients in
nature and picking up herbs and
vegetables from local producers.
That way, we get the best produce
because they’re grown with love
and care.
Why do you think a holistic
approach to cooking is
important?
At Alancha we want our food
to be humble, easy, honest, and
straightforward. Above all, it has
to be delicious. I want guests
to experience all the elements
of the dining environment:
presentation, atmosphere,
entertainment, ingredients,
flavors, textures - everything.
As we learn as chefs, the menu
naturally evolves. It’s an organic
process. When I come into my
kitchen I see lots of smiling faces
because we are all working as a
team. Alancha was built on the
idea of surprising people and
giving them the “wow” effect.
To encourage people to dismiss
limitation and to be open-
minded; we want people to feel
comfortable but also curious
when they enter our restaurant.
What makes Alancha
unique?
It’s ambitious. I think Turkey’s
gastronomic scene is at a shifting
point, and we want to be one
of the pioneers and change the
perception of Turkish food. For
me, in order to create great
food you must first expand on
the concept of what you want
to produce, then deconstruct
that idea, step back, observe
it, and then reconstruct it to
realise its potential. We started
by building up a cooking map,
which identifies the method.
Then, we identify what technique
will make the most of its various
elements. I teach my team how to
approach the cooking process in a
way that fits with the philosophy
of wholeness. We want people to
be aware of the creative process
behind the food they’re eating
and we try to integrate that
philosophy into every aspect of
the dining experience.
Vişnezade Mahallesi,
Şehit Mehmet Sokak No.9, Maçka;
T: (0212) 261 35 35
Food for Thought:
an Interview with Kemal Demirasal
on Holistic Gastronomy by Naela Rose
Champion windsurfer-turned-
self-taught chef Kemal Demiras-
al has taken on a new challenge
this year, launching his second
Alancha restaurant in Istanbul.
Following the success of his first
restaurant in the trendy seaside
town of Çeşme on Turkey’s
Aegean coast in May 2013,
Demirasal’s newly opened Istan-
bul venue is set to take the city’s
gastronomic scene by storm.
But what makes Alancha truly
unique is Demirasal’s holistic
approach to food, cooking, and
the entire dining experience.
Read our in-depth review
of Alancha’s sumptuous
tasting menu at
www.theguideistanbul.com
First and foremost, food is
important to me because it is
a thing that can be shared.

3. THE GUIDE ISTANBUL 22 23 MAY-JUNE 2015
FOOD&DRINKNightlife
One of a growing chain,
The North Shield pub
in Karaköy is situated in
the impressive neo-Gothic style
Nordstern Hotel Galata. The
entrance overlooks the tramway
platform, but leads away into a
sheltered smoking area. At this
point, you have no notion of the
riot of tartan that awaits you inside.
The North Shield’s heraldic
emblem would not look out of
place on a Hogwarts cape. Indeed,
the entire pub is like a theme park
for recovering Anglophiles. A
constellation of weirdly wonderful
Britishisms, the reference points
for the interior decoration seem
to include Harry Potter, knock-
off Vivienne Westwood, the Six
Nations Rugby Championship, and
HBO’s Game of Thrones. However,
like any respectable theme park,
you go there to have fun, and have
fun you will at The North Shield.
Amongst the kitsch, you are
guaranteed to stumble across
a friendly crowd of British,
Irish, continental European,
Japanese, and Australian
tourists, who have come for
more than the resplendent
assortment of mixed nuts at
the bar. There are three huge
HDTV screens, each showing
a different football match from
various international football
leagues. The month’s upcoming
sporting events are chalked
colorfully on a blackboard
menu by the bar. If tartan is
not your thing but sport is, this
is still a top destination for all
your football, rugby, Formula
One, and basketball needs.
The North Shield boasts a
fantastic selection of imported
beers from Germany, Holland,
Belgium, New York, England,
Ireland, and even Japan, as
well as stocking both Blonde and
Amber varieties of a delicious,
locally brewed ale from Muğla.
Overall, the alcohol selection is
very impressive, with extensive
whisky and red wine collections,
plus decent gin, vodka, rum, and
cognac options. In addition, there
aren’t many places in this city of
fabulous food that you can get
a steak and ale pie, let alone a
decent one.
Incongruously, but nonetheless
fantastically, dive bar music plays
in the background – the gravelly
blues of Howling Wolf and Lead
Belly filling every corner of this
kitschy British-ish pub. The
kitsch is tongue-in-cheek and
playful, and will certainly amuse
the Brits – who are the biggest
Anglophiles of all.
Nordstern Hotel Galata, Tersane
Caddesi No. 5, Karaköy;
T: (0212) 293 51 00
The North Shield Pub

4. THE GUIDE ISTANBUL 24 25 MAY-JUNE 2015
FOOD&DRINKRESTAURANT REVIEWS
In terms of dining and lifestyle,
Sanayı 313 in Maslak’s
infamous oto sanayı, a vast
car shop and manufacturing
district, marks not one, but two
frontiers in Istanbul. The swanky
concept store amidst garages
and workshops combines refined
daytime dining with a highly
curated shopping experience in
what can only be described as
a post-industrial off-location,
best accessed by car. Most of
the items available on site have
been thought up by Sanayı 313
co-owner and interior designer
Enis Karavil at his spacious design
office upstairs from the shop
and dining area. Together with
his brother Amir, he created this
space not only to showcase his
furniture, modern objets d’art, and
high-end accessories, but also to
inspire and connect people with
the same hunger for aesthetics
and good food.
Said food is not only tasty and
nice to look at, piled up high on
silver platters, but also healthy,
thanks to ex-Gram chef Müge
Ergül. Her team serves up a variety
of delicious salads, pastries, and
light main dishes to the clientele of
creative professionals and ladies
who lunch at the restaurant’s
sun-lit terrace. The juicy köfte with
zucchini and lime-yoghurt sauce
were a real palate pleaser, as was
the dangerously creamy chocolate
caramel tart with sea salt. The
shop section stocks bespoke
furniture and home décor, creative
stationery, and exclusive
fashionable must-haves, from
handmade embroidered pabuç
slippers to beautiful leather
bags well worth extending
your lunch break for. Besides
serving excellent food and
stylish products, Enis’s design
studio offers bespoke interior
designs, and Sanayı 313 itself
can be rented for private events
- the neighbors won’t be likely to
complain about the noise.
AtatürkOtoSanayiSitesi2.Kısım,
10.SokakNo.313,Maslak:
(0212)2863857
Sanayİ 313
NEW
!OPENING

5. THE GUIDE ISTANBUL 26 27 MAY-JUNE 2015
FOOD&DRINKRESTAURANT REVIEWS
The St. Regis
Brasserie
Spago may crest the roof of
The St. Regis Istanbul, but
don’t overlook the crisp
linen tablecloths on the ground
floor at The St. Regis Brasserie.
Taking a seat amidst the timeless
interior decorated in pearly mocha
browns and marbled motifs, we
were immediately presented with
the day’s copy of the International
New York Times.
The attentive staff took us through
the handsomely presented
menu, urging us to savor one
of the tastiest and most visually
spectacular gavurdağı salads we’ve
sampled in Istanbul. Presenting
perfectly grilled slices of duck
breast on a vibrant bed of diced
cucumbers, tomatoes, yellow
and red peppers, the Brasserie’s
gavurdağı introduces succulent
duck (a meat that elsewhere
too often turns up on your plate
stringy and exsiccated) as a
complementary addition to
the refreshing crunchiness of
scattered pomegranate.
The St. Regis approach is
to avoid crass imitation and
instead showcase the best of
the city. Reflecting Istanbul’s
undisputed status as an
international city, chef Gürcan
Gülmez has succeeded in
creating an exciting menu of
NEW
!OPENING
contemporary Turkish Fusion
cuisine. The menu combines
Turkish home style cooking with
French cooking techniques. The
polenta burger we devoured
used the grain more commonly
associated with Italian povera
cuisine to create two golden
hemispheres to form the bun of
the burger. Fried and crispy on the
outside, it was fluffy on the inside
and crumbled wonderfully like the
burger itself. Composed of juicy
cubes of pulled lamb wrapped in
pak choi and lamb-shoulder, the
burger falls apart into bite-sized
morsels.
Feeling like vandals, we tucked
into the architectural masterpiece
that was the raspberry mango
pavlova with white chocolate. We
were discovering that each dish
was fun and a tad eccentric, but
never pretentious. Playfulness was
also at the heart of The St. Regis
Istanbul’s twist on the Bloody
Mary, the legendary cocktail
invented at The St. Regis New
York in 1934 by Fernand Petiot.
Dubbed the Misty Mary after the
mists of the Bosphorus, it arrived
smoking over from a traditional
ehlikeyif (rakı cooler) spiked with
rakı, star anise and şalgam suyu
(a spicy beverage made from
fermented carrots and turnips).
MimKemalÖkeCaddesiNo.35,
Nişantaşı;T:(0212)3680000