It’s been a month already and Istanbul is still on my mind. I can’t remember the last place I had the opportunity of visiting that completely and utterly captured my heart, soul, and stomach. I recall clearly the puzzled expressions and concerned tones I received when I told my family and friends that I would be visiting Turkey on my next trip. “Why Turkey? What’s in Istanbul? Isn’t it dangerous? Why don’t you go to Spain or Italy instead?” I wanted to say, “Why it’s the 2010 European Capital of Culture!” or “It has an incredible array of historic sites and monuments.” or “It’s really cosmopolitan and modern!” While all of those statements are completely valid, the real reason and overwhelming deciding factor that Istanbul made the cut was that it was the only viable destination on the short list that wouldn’t conflict with our travel during the week preceding Easter Sunday. Most of the desirable cities in South America and Europe (places we wanted to go to) I was told, shut down during that week. “Everything will be closed, even the restaurants.” Gasp. That’s the whole purpose of traveling, right? Is to eat?

Well I have to say, Istanbul really sealed the deal because it’s been touted as one of the most exciting food cities as of late, and trust me, it didn’t disappoint. While the food coverage will have to wait for the next post, I leave you with a few images from the trip that will hopefully illustrate the beauty, mystery, and charm of this exotic city. Lots more to come…

If you love to eat, one of the hardest questions to answer is “what is your favorite restaurant?” I often stumble when asked this, but it only takes a quick jogging of the brain to conclude that the place you return to time and time again, will most likely score very high on that list. One such restaurant is Ikko in Costa Mesa, CA. Of the countless times that we have dined at Ikko, very seldom did we leave any less than fully sated, with happy stomachs and content smiles on our faces. Amidst the various orders of sushi, appetizers and small plates, one dish we ask for almost every visit is their radish salad. It’s a very unassuming dish, comprised of batons of crisp, crunchy daikon, herbaceous rounds of red radishes, and bright, grassy radish sprouts. The vegetables are dressed in a lighter-than-air vinaigrette, with a delightful bouquet of floral yuzu juice. The dressing is neither cloying or over seasoned, but serves to perfectly accentuate the mild, cucumber-flavor of the radishes. And to top off, a mound of fried sweet potato ‘noodles’ adds nice color and texture.

When I’m craving a little Japanese at home, I like to make this salad to pair up with bites of sushi. It’s a great accompaniment and contrast to rich and decadent negi toro maki (tuna belly roll) and uni nigiri (sea urchin sushi), both which are also absolutely sublime at Ikko. It’s a fairly simple salad to make, if you can find the ingredients at your local Japanese market. The only semi time-consuming part is making the basil oil (and the fried sweet potato noodles, which I omit), but I do find that it’s just as good without it. So if you’re in a rush, feel free to totally skip this step.

slow drip basil oil... isn't that green just amazing?