TRAVEL GUIDE | CABANA TRAVEL | CABANA MAGAZINE

Miguel Flores-Vianna will never forget the first time he visited Istanbul, a city to which he has returned many times. He shares a very special insider's guide with Cabana, highlighting exceptional restaurants, breathtaking architecture and places of incomparable charm.  

BY MIGUEL FLORES-VIANNA | CABANA TRAVEL | 11 SEPTEMBER 2024

My Favorite Place to Stay: Yesil Ev

I will never forget the first time I visited the city. We landed late one evening and headed straight to our hotel. I knew nothing about Istanbul and the taxi deposited us in front of a two-storey wooden mansion, which, on entering, seemed frozen in time. The first morning I woke up hearing a strange and beautiful noise coming from the garden. It took me a second to realise that it was the day’s first call to prayer from a nearby mosque. I was hooked. We were staying in the middle of Sultanahmet, the historic heart of the city a few steps from the Agia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque: the historic heart of the city.

The hotel was called Yesil Ev and it was a time capsule, which during the time of my first visit was still frequented by people like Queen Sophia of Spain, Francois Mitterrand and Cy and Tatia Twombly. It was cheap and slightly dusty but the charm was incomparable and its ‘placement’ in the urban grid was the best of the best. Since those first visits, it has gone through a renovation, but is still placed like no other. For someone visiting Istanbul for the first, I suggest you forget the grander hotels and go, just once, to Yesil Ev - to experience historic Istanbul from the inside.

My Favorite Restaurants: Pandeli and Aman Da Bravo

In June, after a delicious meal with friends in Bebek, a part of town on the Bosphorus closer to the Black Sea, I headed back to my hotel downtown. On the way, I witnessed something that never fails to amaze me: no matter the area, Istanbul is an endless culinary feast; restaurants, carts, shacks full of food and people consuming it.

Istanbul is a delicious food destination. Having said this, I will also say that no matter where in the world I go, I love to visit places that have been around forever; it helps me connect with the city or country’s ancient core. In Istanbul, I always go to Pandeli, the old restaurant above the Spice Bazaar in Eminonou. I love its decor - the most vivid turquoise tiles cover all walls - and its menu, devised in the early 20th Century by the Turkish-Greek family that opened it.

I have a new contender too now. On my last trip, the same friends I dined with in Bebek took me to a new restaurant: Aman Da Bravo. We ate dish after dish, each more delicious than the previous, in a beautiful overgrown garden by the Bosphorus and saw the room where meals are taken in winter: a light, airy loft-like space that reminded me of the much-missed Mortons on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. 

My Favorite Place of Architectural Interest: Rustëm Pasha Mosque

Istanbul is full of incredible things to see. Agia Sophia, the sixth-century basilica turned mosque will take your breath away, as will a visit to the Topkapi Palace, the old Imperial residence. I never fail to visit such places when there but, I admit, my favorite architectural gem of all is the Rustëm Pasha Mosque.

Designed in the 16th-century by Mimar Sinan, the most important Ottoman architect, the mosque is an alphabet of Iznik tiles, which cover almost every single interior wall and the entrance facade of the building. The tiles are in different designs and the mix is dazzling. A plus, when visiting the mosque, is that it is right next to the Hardware Bazaar, which I always love visiting and never fail to walk away with some sort of basket and a few wooden kitchen utensils.

My Favorite Thing to Do: The Bosphorus and Grand Bazaar

I love the Bosphorus. It never fails to move me the minute I lay eyes on it. It always transports me and I end up thinking of all the thousands of people who have used it through the ages and of the major events that have taken place on its shores. For me, it never gets old to be near or on it. On every visit I have to be on some sort of transport on the water. Lately I tend to take water taxis to avoid traffic and get my Bosphorus fix. I also love the Grand Bazaar. I never miss it and always find something to buy. It is immemorial and I love the feeling of its embrace.

My Favorite Coffee Shop or Cafés:

In the summer of 2011 I took a three-month holiday in Istanbul and my friend, Dimonah Ikse, who was living there, suggested we do a little book about all the outside cafés and restaurants around the city. Dimonah is a determined woman and she researched and scouted hundreds of places, arriving at a final list of 40. We shot everything, from the very low (but charming) to the highest of the high.

From that experience I would suggest two places. The first is the cafe at the National Archeological Museum where you sit at tables surrounded by ancient sculptures, Greek, Roman and Ottoman, under a canopy of water chestnuts listening to the wind and the cries of urban life beyond the trees. The second is not a cafe per se, but a restaurant and it will give you a little taste of old Istanbul.

As the city grew it absorbed a series of villages that existed along the Bosphorus. One of them, on the Asian side, is Kandili, which still preserves the charm and ways of a small town. Take a boat, and when you disembark at the jetty you will see a restaurant with tables under grapevine pergola that descend all the way to the water's edge. Ask kindly for coffee or chai, and sit watching Bosphorus life gently, and impressively, go past your eyes. It is one of the grandest things you will ever experience. Of course, the experience will be infinitely better if you stay and have some lunch or dinner.