Sinanation

On the way back from a mouthwatering dinner, I stumbled upon this corner Italian Bistro in Venice. As the curious tourist, I sneaked inside to see the reason behind the happy vibe and cheering. That was the moment I got caught up with Ty LeBlanc’s amazing voice and The Jazzy Soul’s great show. The songs were all familiar and Ty’s voice was dominant enough to give the crowd all the reason to sing along.

The unexpected 2 hours we spent at Osteria San Marco was one of the most entertaining nights of my life.

I try to be an avid hunter when it comes to visiting different parts of the world and experiencing new cultures. Thus I know that even with the current reach of globalization we still have noticeable differences in the way we present and take care of ourselves. Yet there are undeniable similarities as much as the differences. Countries, colors and religions apart there is one fact we shouldn’t deny: we are all nosey and naughty animals at the core and given the right circumstances we will let the beast out. The elevator is one of those places.

Drink the Bellini until you can burp no more! Venice is where this heavy-in-volume, light-in-alcohol mashed peach puree Prossecco drink was created. Harry’s Bar, opened in 1931 by the bartender Guiseppe Cipriani with the 90,000 lire gifted to him by a rich American guest, has the original recipe. Definitely stop by after walking around San Marco.

Have lunch on the terrace of Gritti Palace. This place has great view and delicious food. I recommend the Burrata to start with and then the lobster salad or the black ink risotto as the main course.

Have dinner at PG’s Club Restaurant. Luigi Fracella, the head chef at Palazzina Grassi, is a pro when it comes to Italian food. He is originally from Puglia, the region where all my favorite Italian friends are from. This food-master is one of the most down-to-earth and friendly famous professional I have met in a long time. He has been in the food business for more than 15 years and worked at restaurants such as Locanda Locatelli in London and Zuma in London and Tokyo. He was handpicked to prepare the sushi for the Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittall’s son’s wedding in Venice during our stay at Grassi. Luigi is known to infuse traditional comfort food with modern flavors. Through his kitchen, I have eaten the most delicious prawn served on top of a toast and the most fulfilling veal infused ravioli. On top of all, I owe him big time for an amazing hangover seafood pasta al dante splashed with the most delicious spicy tomato sauce (prepared so delicately at 3 am in the morning!).

Have lunch at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello, 10 km out of St. Marks Square on the northeastern side of the Venetian lagoon. This inn/restaurant is a sight to see and savor. Although Torcello island has played a major role in commerce and welcomed a large population centuries ago, today it survives as a quiet place with amazing botanic gardens and a few monuments to see.

Locanda Cipriani was opened in 1935 and became extremely famous after Ernest Hemingway wrote his book “Across the River and Through the Trees” right here. This must be the only place in Venice that serves amazing Italian food surrounded by an incredible rose garden.

Have dinner at Da Ivo, a tiny hearty restaurant stuck in the corner of a tiny street and a canal. It was opened in 1976 by Ivo Natali from Tuscany. The specials change regularly. Make sure you stick by them!

The 6th of the annual Chill-Out Festival in Istanbul took place on May 22nd in Kemer Golf & Country Club. It was my first time at the event since I was living in New York until last year. The entrance fee is around USD 50 and then the visitors are required to fill up a “festival credit card” sponsored by a bank with cash to be able to purchase food and drink from the numerous corner shops.

The festival was well-organized, spread through a green lawn surrounded by tiny hills and trees. Music started at 12.30 sharp and was scheduled to go until 11 at night. I got to enjoy the sunny side from 1 to 6pm. 5 hours underneath the sizzling sun was more than I could handle and I left the event knowing that the best was saved for the 2nd half: Kraak & Smaak was one of the performers I was sad to leave behind.

The music and the performances were well-paced. DJ Malik Alary was the great entrance. My favorite live performance was of course the Austrian electronica musician Klaus Waldeck featuring Zeebee. There were instances when people got in the mood for a few dance moves although the event is meant for the relaxed smooth “chill-out” . The variety and quality of food was simply great from Ben & Jerry’s to mini burgers.

I am planning to go again next year and if this entry gives you enough reason to do the same make a note of the few reminders.

• Bring your own pillows, portable chairs and umbrellas as the ones provided by the sponsors are gone within minutes.
• Make sure you have a friend with you who is a Kemer Country resident. That way you can skip the crowd and find a nice spot for your car.
• Go around 3pm avoiding the midday sun and stay until 9pm to catch all the best performers.

Like the city itself, its luxury hotels splurge on history and prosperity, meaning that most are undeniably preppy and strict and lack the fresh modern touches. Hotel Bauer, Gritti Palace and Hotel Danieli (Angelina Jolie’s hotel at “The Tourist”) are a few examples in this category.

If you are looking to enjoy history and go back to a modern bedroom I strongly recommend you check out Palazzina Grassi (PG) designed by the one and only Philippe Stark. This 26-room boutique hotel located right in the heart of the grand canal has welcomed me with great hospitality and service. From the unique Murano glass sculpture mounted on top of the canal entrance to the retro photography found in the rooms, Stark comfortably displays his genius in adapting the modern to tradition all around this hotel. There is not a single corner in this place that lacks a unique design touch: even the ordinary carpet squeezed in a tiny corridor has the famous Venetian mask logos imprinted on it. If a tiny hotel such as this has the characteristics fit for a palace, it must have caught the attention of the famous. PG is also the hotel where Johnny Depp stayed at while shooting “The Tourist” with Angelina Jolie.

There are little touches in this hotel that really improved my stay. There is no sign of the stuck-up, blank staff usually present at design hotels. The whole PG crew is full with the most-welcomed Mediterranean warmth. The rooms are extremely commodious thanks to the multiple mirrors and cream coloring. If you are a music freak like me: there is an iPod outlet right next to your bed to plug into your room’s sound system. If you are turned off by bright lights you can dim your room’s light to your preference. If you are a breakfast monster like me: you find the freshest bread and croissant baskets accompanied by Italian cheese platters each morning. Unlike the most common boring “chocolate on the pillow” deal, there are delicious glazed almond cookies waiting for you in your room every afternoon.

Despite this much positive, I can sprinkle a few flaws to the Grassi perfection. Keep in mind that like all the other Stark hotels, PG’s bathrooms are not so everyday-use-friendly. Wash your hands once in the sink and the whole counter will turn into a little lagoon. Also for your first time check-in: the room numbers are located on the floors instead of the doors (caused a slight confusion at our arrival).

I land the city of canals, gondolas, romance, masks, palazzinos and the bellini on a grayish morning, clueless about the fact that I finally made it to another corner of the Earth I will be constantly wishing to come back to. It takes a mere 10 minute walk from the Marco Polo Airport to the water taxi hub to dress one up in the Venezian tourist vibe: paused, spoiled, content and full with an unlimited hunger and thirst.

An iced bottle of Bellini in one hand, I make it out to the most unique highway in the world seated on top of a wooden motorboat taxi. Lined in between wooden columns, I cruise closer to Venice gliding on brown-greenish waters toxicated with anything dirty that comes to mind for centuries. Yet, even the ugliest garbage can’t spoil the scenery ahead. Being surrounded by this much water, you’d think you will be glued to a boat to get anywhere around Venice. Don’t let the canals fool you, you will almost always have the option to walk to your destination (even if it means going through tiniest streets). This is the city that will make you wish you could frame every corner and take the souvenir home.

Stripped from the tourists, souvenir shops and the black gondolas, I find Venice built on worn-out bricks covered in earthy tones, moss and rust, reclining through territorial waters. The uninterrupted reign of history, the practicality of tradition and the harmonious partnership with water is what makes life in this city unusual to the metropolitan citizen. There is beauty here in everything we try to get rid of in the modern life.  I can’t help distancing myself from Venice’s authenticated existence, holding tight to the assumption that something this unusual can not be more than a theme park attraction. I must have gone through a time machine that kept the modern people but changed the setting into an ancient scenery. From religion to commerce, from art to architecture there is a piece of Venice that applies to every rooted profession and occasion. You won’t find the capitalist suited businessman running around with his suitcase here but you will run into that stinky fisherman preparing to open up his shop at Mercato del Pesce. You will see the well-dressed sweet grandmother running her lace shop in Burano. You won’t find yourself hopping inside a deep house nightclub, but you will treat your ears to an amazing live performance at a tiny Italian restaurant. Annoying car honks become pleasant gondolieri songs here. The ideas are the same but the action is uniquely Venetian.

This is the story of a much appreciated giant: a dedicated businessman during the week and an energetic party machine through the weekend.

Like most of us he quarrels with the hardship of managing high risk while maintaining his organized and cautious approach to life. So it is no wonder that whenever he finds the opportunity to let loose he embraces it with all his heart and soul. He has been a great friend and a protective big brother at times. I know I have long promised him a mix. So with that in mind I introduce you “Tutti Style”, a 20 min. episode to take me back to the legendary party weekends with my buddy, Burak Tutar.

I say enjoy it before you give the party monster back to the corporate Monday. Click HERE to download.

My generation and the one right before us seem to be caught in an unavoidable vortex. I keep hearing more and more of my friends and relatives being discontent with their achievements and lifestyle. I can easily relate to these facts because I go through the same blight. There isn’t a single day that goes by without wanting to be somewhere else, with something else. Many of us can no longer find the break to be genuinely thankful for wherever we are. This constant “wish I could” must be one of the most torturous monsters of our time, eating away our energy, focus, goodwill and satisfaction. We hate to be monotonous and prudent and we are constantly afraid that we have already become one. It must be a sin to be as fortunate as many of us are in between millions that are in misery and pain and still want more. It must be a shameful fetish to almost always look up and never down. This writing is not intended to cure the disease but assure that we shouldn’t be the ones to blame. So with this remark in mind I dwell into today’s most overlooked epidemic: the dissatisfaction of deficiency.

I believe that we are in an era of instant, but conditional access to all material desires. It is instant because almost everything we want is just a hand’s reach away. It is conditional because the availability is fully dependent on statute and/or financial strength. The dilemma most of us face today, the continual dissatisfaction of deficiency, begins here: between the instant visual freedom and the restricted ownership. All the things once considered more exclusive, luxurious and/or restricted is now portrayed voluptuously on TV, the Internet and the magazines. The process to be able to “browse” something has decreased to miliseconds, but the final act has not changed a bit: the ability to do, to own is still determined by the same credentials.

The diversity and availability of the media outlets reaching into the personal life have grown enormously since the age of the newspaper. The likes of Expedia closed down the traditional travel agency. Images of tropical islands, luxurious hotels accompanied by the feedback of the people who have been there became too available too fast. The online stores brought the regular shop shelves to our knees. We were once hesitant or too busy to go into shops. We were curious to learn the prices and disappointed by the fact that the price tags were not too easy to reach. The life of the high society, the self-made millionaire, the genius, the mega-rich and the famous was once less available to the public eye. Videos and photos of vacations on private islands, parties on luxury yachts, weddings in 7-star hotels, meetings in designer headquarters were once not just a click away. We once caught up with friends over the phone and now we follow their steps with mobile uploads and 140-character status updates.

With the age of the Internet came an overwhelming access for the public eye, demolishing that loveless, but protective shield of inaccessibility: from exotic travels to cars, from jewelry to clothing there isn’t a single material want now that is reserved behind the curtain. If we don’t have it there is an acquaintance that already does. If we can’t do it there is an acquittance that already can. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we are bombarded with photos, videos, articles and status updates that force us to say “wish I could”, making it even harder for us savor our own achievements.