Met the legend @marcopierrewhit here at @mangal2restaurant today. What a dude, we talked food, Arsenal & about Persia, where my family originally hail from. He even bought our book and got me to sign it. Surreal.
And best of all, he tried our dishes and seemed to genuinely love it.
He may have 3 Michelin stars, but he gets a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.
I’ve been a fan of @vittlesmagazine for a long time, and to be asked to feature on their podcast to discuss my own story through the lens of Mangal II has been an absolute honour.
It’s out now and the link is in the bio!
Special thanks to long-time customer and friend @adamcoghlan for arranging and interviewing, and @jonathandnunn for the commissioning and questions too. I had a blast! Give it a listen x
48 Hours in Istanbul with Mangal 2 restaurant’s Ferhat Dirik.
“My parents met in Istanbul, so in a roundabout way I am a product of the city. Every time I go back, it’s a sensory overload. Colours, noises, tastes and smells, modernity and conservatism, all at once. I don’t think I could ever live in Istanbul, but I love dipping in and out multiple times a year.
The best grills out there use the best charcoal - and the product on offer in Istanbul is of the highest standard. Lamb and chicken grilled on skewers, a flavour and smoke that cannot be replicated in the UK or elsewhere.
That and the mastery of the Ocakbaşı Usta, knowing when to up the heat, pull it back or turn the meat.
It’s not just the charcoal. Turks are unbelievably hospitable, I always encourage tourists to visit all of Türkiye, and to expect to be treated with utmost generosity and care. We love to show our culture to guests, and feel immense pride when doing so. Turks only issues are with other Turks, we often feel so divided due to politics, religion, sex and economic status, but when it comes to welcoming foreigners you’d be hard-pressed to find a warmer nation.
At the end of every trip to Istanbul I visit Cağaloğlu Hamam - a 300 year old bath house in Sultanahmet.
After stripping down to a towel, you’re led to a steaming hot sauna in an ancient mosque where a burly Turkish man scrubs the living life out of you - cleaning every pore on your skin. He massages you back to health, pours deliciously fragrant soap over your head and chucks buckets of warm and then cold water over you as you return to life.
Every time, I leave feeling like a newborn baby, floating on air, ready for Döner.”
Photographer: @marcuspatrickbrown@ffferhatdirik
One year sober today.
Easy. Too easy.
Thank you to all the wonderful people in my life for making this as seamless, as accepting, as nourishing a journey as possible x
