About Istanbul Food

Istanbul Food is about supporting and emphasizing the real, local, genuine food and of its people. My people, my food heroes, my esnaf, my artisans… My take of the city. Istanbul Food tells their stories, with my touch, experiences, memoirs, food and culture from the lands of Turkey.

What you may find in Istanbul Food; beyond beautifully written articles and mouthwatering photography, Istanbul Food will also guide you to real food in Istanbul and also in Turkey with my observations based on my 28 years of professional food background, expertise, palate, choices and own precious time.

Istanbul Food does not have any sponsors, so I can write all about there is, frankly!

About me, Tuba Şatana

I was born in 1972, to a Thessaloniki, Istanbul, and Mardin compound family. Being raised by a refined grandmother and a true gourmet mother, not to forget my father’s heritage of the gorgeous southeast tastes of Turkey, I integrate the best of all cultures within my blood. While cooking with my granny, I learned all about the fundamentals of cooking and kitchen while my mother, living on the coast of Aegean sea, garnished me with all the fine touches and refined tastes. A great way to grow up! I was lucky!

Now for the curious minds… After my graduation from Bilkent University, I worked in the kitchen and service department in many hotels as part of my training, starting my way through a successful career in the Food and Beverage industry. I participated in the pre-opening of international chain hotels, an international restaurant as well as a university. I was one of the first female F&B managers in the international hotel chains in Turkey. I founded my own business Istanbul Food in 2009. As well as writing about Turkish food and culture to local press and international magazines, I provide consultancy to restaurants, chefs, I teach courses in universities and gastronomy academies.

On 2019, I created Sapor Istanbul #oldschoolsymposium, emphasising food is a culture beyond having fun and feeding, it is a sociological and anthropological phenomenon that connects the lives of societies from the past to the future, that it will be taken seriously and will guide us and that we can do this by sharing.

I am still managing tourism projects, writing, talking, teaching, and traveling. Istanbul is my home, and I am sharing my life with my son Deniz, our cats Toko and Lokum.

#foodispersonal

Thessaloniki