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Overview

Overview

Overview

With its culturally diverse population, Orlando offers flavors from around the globe. The city—thanks to chef-driven restaurants, farmers’ markets, and food trucks—has landed on the culinary map. There are even fine dining experiences to be had at the theme parks, where once barbecued turkey legs and caramel corn passed for haute cuisine.

Located at the Navarino Dunes Beach, Barbouni Restaurant provides a great waterfront dining experience on the beautiful Ionian Sea. While you can find salads and Greek delicacies on the menu, the highlight is the fresh caught fish and seafood. Some recommendations include an oven-baked sea bass with tomato, garlic, onion, and olive oil; mussels with feta, spring onion, and ouzo white sauce; and grilled prawns with lime and fennel olive oil. For dessert, the Giaourti—strained Greek yogurt with sour cherry, thyme-scented Greek honey, and walnuts—will leave your sweet tooth satisfied. Note Barbouni Restaurant does not take reservations, so seating is on a first-come first-serve basis.

In Texas, there’s no shortage of places to go for barbecue, but if you can pick only one Houston joint, head to Killen’s BBQ. Chef Ronnie Killen’s vision for this restaurant, opened in 2013, was to combine the “heart and soul of the old-school barbecue cook-offs” of his youth with his training at Le Cordon Bleu. On the meat menu you’ll find to-die-for brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, and turkey by the pound as well as homemade pork and beef sausage, pulled pork, and bone-in pork belly. Sides include mac and cheese, creamed corn, green beans, potato salad, and coleslaw. The restaurant is located in Pearland, about 30 minutes from downtown. It is closed on Mondays, and open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until the restaurant sells out of stock.

The waterside neighborhood of Ortaköy is a favorite of locals and tourists looking to spend a lazy afternoon strolling its cobbled streets, playing backgammon over a few glasses of tea, or finding a spot for a picnic with an overloaded kumpir (baked potato). The Bosphorus Bridge, the first in the world to connect Asia and Europe since Hellenic times, is the ultimate photo backdrop, especially behind the Ortaköy Mosque when it’s lit up at night (try to see the newly restored interior during the day, when light streams through the windows and makes the chandeliers and tiles shine). Traffic can be brutal, especially in summer or around Ramadan, but it’s a pleasant 30-minute walk past old palaces turned hotels in Beşiktaş, where many ferries and buses terminate.

Gülhane Park, recently renovated with the zoo and other structures removed, sits on Sarayburnu peninsula at the base of Topkapı Palace of which it was formerly a part. In April, millions of tulips bloom in colorful displays to celebrate Turkey’s national flower, but all year round the promenade, green lawns, and tea gardens overlooking the Bosphorus are a great place to unwind and watch the world go by.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art—or, commonly, the Met—is one of the world’s great museums, alongside the Louvre, the British Museum, and a handful of others. It would be easy to devote an entire week’s visit to the museum alone, and realistically you probably won’t get far beyond a few exhibitions and galleries at one shot. The Costume Institute’s temporary shows are always popular, while others will (like the museum itself) focus on a range of regions and periods—at any one time there may be temporary exhibitions on an Italian Renaissance painter, miniatures from Mughal India, and Polynesian carvings. The Temple of Dendur, a roughly 43' x 21' x 16' temple that dates to around 15 B.C.E. and was given by the government of Egypt to the United States in 1967, is one of the museum’s most photographed (and Instagrammed) works. The 34 period rooms, including a 12th-century cloister, English parlor and a Shaker “retiring” room, are among the museum’s other highlights. On summer evenings, site-specific installations make the rooftop terrace is a favorite place for drinks. The general admission of $25 for adults, $12 for students, and $17 for seniors is a suggested one for New York residents, as well as students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Whatever you pay also includes same-day entry to The Met Cloisters.

Stylish, secluded Likya Gardens is a hideaway amid the cliffs of Kalkan, a humble old fishing town on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast. Each of the seven suites has its own pool and a patio set on stilts, offering views of a crystal-blue bay and brightly colored fishing boats. Guests can sun on nearby beaches such as Patara or Kaputaş, or enjoy the privacy of the hotel’s beach club, where Moroccan-style cabanas are tricked out with minibars, laptops, and Wi-Fi. Personal butlers can deliver breakfast and book tables at the town’s rooftop restaurants; they’ll even arrange day trips to the Hidden Canyon, with its Indiana Jones–style swinging bridge. From $450. This appeared in the June/July 2014 issue.

Just outside the city of Izmir, heading towards the airport is a giant carving of the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is impressive in its size and is well done. The only thing wrong here is that it isn’t carved into the side of the rocky mountain but built up over scaffolding. Still, it is impressive and shows the Turkish love of the founder of modern Turkey.

Tower over the sites of Turkey like Gulliver, from “Gulliver’s Travels” at Miniaturk. This innovative open-air amusement park, located on the Golden Horn in Sütlüce, allows you to see 1:25 scale miniature models of significant Istanbul landmarks, hover over replica landscapes of Turkey, and get up close to the architecture of the former Ottoman Empire. Spend a few hours here to walk the Bosporus Bridge, visit South Eastern Turkey’s Nemrut and Mardin, and peer into Istanbul’s modern structures like Ataturk Airport or the Galatasaray Football Stadium. There are more than 100 models to explore as well as a flight simulator, a mini train ride, and a crystal museum. If you’re planning a family day out, pair Miniaturk with a visit to the Rahmi M Koç Industrial Museum on the Golden Horn, about two miles south of Miniaturk. This impressive museum exhibits planes, trains, automobiles, and more from a bygone era.

Çağatay Gülabioğlu’s micro roastery and specialty coffee shop, KronotRop, is located in one of Istanbul’s most hippest neighborhoods. The outlet was a revolutionary initiative in Turkey’s gourmet culinary world, and as such, it set the scene for other third wave coffee roasters in town to blossom. Coffee beans from around the world are imported, roasted onsite, and ground upon order. The beans are brewed from fair-trade, organic, single-origin beans and presented in all styles of caffeine and de-caf concoctions. If you’re missing that favorite cup from home, then KronotRop may have what you’re craving—brewed hot or cold.

There’s a gorgeous venue in town that all the well-heeled folks and celebrities go to dine. It’s called Galatasaray Island, but most Istanbulites (locals) call it the Suada Club, or simply Suada. The island, on the edge of the Bosporus, is owned by the Galatasaray Football Club of Turkey’s Super League and UEFA’s Champions League. Boasting seven high-class restaurants and an Olympic-sized pool, in summer, it’s Suada’s Bosphorus-meets-St. Tropez style that lures many Istanbulites here to recline on the daybeds and bask in the sunshine and glamour by the pool. Come nighttime, the mood lighting illuminates a romantic setting and the isle fills with people who revel in the chic style and superb cuisine of the restaurants. To get there, head to Kuruçeşme Park just north of the first Bosporus Bridge and board the free ferry that shuttles 165m to/from the island. Check the website for more information about the restaurants. Reservations are advised.

One of the best ways to learn about a location is to go shopping. Head to the local markets to get a feel for what life is really like in a location. As I was visiting Ephesus ruins in Turkey, I made a stop at the Saturday Selcuk Market and was able to see the modern day life that goes on near the ancient ruins. The town sets up this large farmers market every Saturday, but it’s more than just produce. You’ll find a variety of clothes and other necessities. It’s Turkey’s version of an outdoor WallMart market! And this is no tourist market, you’ll be haggling for your bargains next to the locals. Walk around and interact with the vendors and be sure to purchase a bag or two of delicious fruit or nuts for snacks during the day. You can also wander into the many jewelry shops that surround the temporary market stalls or stop for a delicious lunch of mezes at any of the restaurants while you rest your feet. More Information: Selcuk Market is held on a Saturday behind the otogar (bus station)