It was freezing on March 5th in Brooklyn, and after walking to restaurant to restaurant and being turned down for interviews one after the other, my partner Amanda and I were ecstatic even when one restaurant’s employee told us to come back in 2 hours because it was the closest we got to a yes so far that day. When we returned to Istanbul and approached the same young lady (probably a little surprised that we actually returned in 2 hours) about the manager, she informed us that he still had not come, but that he should be coming in a couple of minutes. Concerned that the manager would not come or that the manager just did not want to do an interview, I thought that I should at least satiate my appetite; therefore, I ordered a Chicken Gyro Platter for my main dish and Baklava for dessert. Right when my order’s number was called, we were informed by another employee that the manager had arrived. But seeing that my food just came out, the employee very kindly told us to take our time, finish eating, and then walk around to “the back”. The Chicken Gyro platter turned out to be a lot bigger than I imagined; however, the size did not intimidate me since I was starving. The platter consisted of a small lettuce and tomato salad, pita bread, well-seasoned chicken, and rice. I devoured all of it in under 10 minutes.
It turns out that “the back” is actually another seating area. Instanbul has two seating areas: a tighter seating area (where we had lunch) and a more spacious dinning area (where we had the interview). Each seating area had its own grill. When Amanda and I arrive to the dinning area, the manager is already waiting for us at a table in the back. After making eye contact with us, he gets up to greet us and right away I noticed his incredible height. We sit down with him at the table and as Amanda and I are getting set up, he asked us to keep the questions simple because his English isn’t so great.
Ali (Ah-li), the manager, was born and raised in Turkey. Before coming to the US, he played professional volleyball, which clicked for me because he was so tall. After hurting his back playing volleyball, he was told by the doctor that he could not professionally play volleyball anymore. His brother came to the US in 1996 and suggested that Ali come too. Since Ali, did not want to serve in Turkey’s army for 1 1/2 years (a requirement in Turkey), he came to the US. Ali credits his brother for “giving [him] power” to come to the US. He came with no knowledge of how to speak English, but managed to learn from watching American movies and reading the newspaper. Learning English was not too difficult for Ali, since he already knew three languages: Kurdish, Turkish, and German. When I reaffirm that he now knows 4 languages, he humbly replies that he only knows 3 1/2 languages because he does not know English that well, but to Amanda and I, it is clear that he is fluent in English.
The current owner is one of his friends from back home, which is how Ali initially got introduced to the restaurant business. He started out as a busboy, then he moved up to waiting tables, and eventually he became the manager. He has worked at Istanbul for 7 years, but the restaurant itself has been around for 14 years. Most of the restaurant’s customers are Arabic, Russian, and Albanian, but there are also some American, Asian, and Italian customers. He says that the ethnicity of his customers reflect the changes in the neighborhood. When he just began working at Istanbul, he said that he did not have many Asian customers; however, over the years the numbers have increased. And unfortunately there are not many Turkish residents nearby (most Turkish people are in New Jersey), so he only has a handful of Turkish customers.
Ali says that managing all 32 employees is incredibly difficult because every employee has his/her own problems. One day someone will be sick; another day someone is late. Because everyone has their own specialized job, whether is be making the pita or working the grill, everyone’s job is incredibly important to the restaurant. But despite the challenges that come with managing so many people, it is clear that Ali loves his job because of the people he has met. He smiles as he talks about his regulars; “Some of them I don’t give menus, I know what they want.” He talks about how some of his customers have become his friend, how he goes to their houses and eat dinner with them. All the while, Ali also treats Amanda and I as guests because he asks one of his employees to bring out tea and sugar cubes for us. We connect over the fact that tea is said similarly in all our language. In both Russian and Turkish, tea is “chai”. In Mandarin, tea is “cha”. The black tea is served in these elegant clear glasses. He also brings out his favorite dessert, rice pudding, for us to try. Amanda and I quickly dig in and take our first bite, and it is by far the best rice pudding I have ever had. It is the perfect sweetness and despite the stomach complication I have when I eat dairy, I continue to indulge in pudding because it is so delicious. One of the most beautiful things about food, is that it represents ones culture in an edible form.
