MERVE TATARI & DENIZ YURTKURAN

MERVE : “On warm weekends I usually walk my Labrador Otto in the Belgrade Forest [northwest of the city]. I love the fresh air, especially on clear days. Sometimes my father joins us and we go to Bebek Kahve on the water in Bebek for their famous breakfast afterwards. It sets us up for the week ahead. On Fridays and Saturdays, if the weather is nice, I go to Akın Balık in Karaköy. It is very shabby but a great place for fish and the tables are right on the Golden Horn. We also love to go to another place in Karaköy called Mana, for their really good Turkish mezzes. In winter, we go to Adana Ocakbası which is in Kurtulus. The place is very small but it has delicious food.”

DENIZ : “My favorite place for breakfast in spring is Çuma Cafe in Çukurcuma, where I go every Sunday to sit in their lovely garden out front. I always have their speciality: Çılbır—Turkish poached eggs in yoghurt. Tatbak in Tesvikiye is the most delicious kebab in town. It’s a very old father-to-son place and hasn’t changed at all over the years. I used to go there with my parents as a kid, and now I go there on Sundays with my friends.”