Sinanation

Sinanation thanks Musa Yesil for his surprising idea to create a Wanted for Sinan. It also thanks Yasmin Salfati, Gorkem Guler, Selim Aykut, Burak Tutar, Aydin Aras, Luis Raul Cerna, Asli Baysan and Ekin Carmikli for their contribution on this post.

Name: Sinan Bastas

Nickname: Himbil, Sino, Tasbas, Lord, Pasa Cocugu, Sefa Pezevengi, Wannabe Artist, Gosterislerin Adami

Notable Appearance: Trimmed body hair with a light beard hiding a sarcastic smile…  Buffalo style thighs and legs creating his signature walk, best viewed from behind.

Can’t do without: Wine, Cheese, McChicken, Chipotle, Ipod, Flushable Wet Wipes, Drawing islands on gray tshirts, anti-perspirant deodorants, black & white t-shirts, McChicken, oven roasted turkey, steamed rice, parsley, Tomatoes, Honey, Kraft White American Cheese, Saying the Wrong Thing in the Wrong Places, Going thru people’s stuff, McChicken, hair gel, Pretending to be a DJ, Rose Wine, Preppy Clothing, green Ralph Lauren belt, colorful shirts and shorts, McChicken, Doorman size huge umbrellas, rulokat, Rebul Kolonya, Chino pants, Tod’s flats, Izzy Sparkling Clementine Juice, steak, mustard, McChicken & McChicken…

Notable Hobbies: Mixing Songs, Updating Itunes playlists, Cursing, Attending any event where he can show off his Tuxedos, Wakeboarding, Skiing, Posing for tabloids, Painting, Blogging & then commenting on his own blog from Musa’s computer, fantasizing about multi-million dollar cars, yachts and mansions, walking LONG distances, wining & dining, teasing Yasmin, Shopping for his Sister, happy hours,  Art (and seek?), Watching Old Victoria’s Secret Shows

Weakness: Sweating, Cilantro, sports games that involve teams, Foot Odor, Miranda Kerr, bees, Sake, diarrhea, Cleavage, blond girls with innocent looks, brunettes with voluptuous bodies, reds with beautiful voices – basically anything female that moves..

Favorite Quote: Igrenc bi adamsin abi, Inek!, Citira bak!, Simdi bildircin’i aliyosun…, Erzurum’un tamami bizim, Yunus Memesi Roll, Pat!, Zart, Zonk, Ben yasli sevmem bolesini gormedim!, “I am throwing the lyrics”

Last Seen: Istanbul, Alem Magazine, Manhattan & Mashattan Istanbul, Commerce NYC, Sushi Samba 7, Ciragan, Hillside Beach Club, Bodrum, Alem, Minetta Tavern (finally), Vermont, Long Island, Tomoe Sushi, NYC, Le Bilboquet, tasting truffle at Murrays’ Cheese, Alem, Kıyı Balikci, French Laundry Napa, Gary Danko San Francisco, Alem and at JKF Terminal 1 about to leave NYC (offering everything he has to be upgraded to business class)…

I remember the days when I would drive her crazy. Her hair cut short, her tiny sneakers on, her cheeks peach red she would run into the living room her eyes sparkling with the grandeur of the Christmas tree. “Sinan are you decorating the tree!” she would yell her voice trembling with her tiny heart pounding with excitement. She would come back her hands washed and stand next to my feet waiting for an order to hang an ornament on the pine tree. Annoyed by her tiny presence, careless of her excitement I would pick a tiny damaged red ball from a bunch of huge ones and ask her to put it in a place where no one can see. I was an immature brother too selfish to observe his sister’s incredible spirit and blossom.

Even though the age difference, I have always been addicted to her company. She was my cabin crew when I turned my bed into an airplane. She was my gatekeeper when I turned the living room sofa into a cave of wonders. She was my avid shopper when I turned my room into a shop of weird gadgets. She was my forced wingman when I watched horror movies. She was my financier when I ran out of my weekly allowance. She was always there for me (although sometimes unwillingly). She has changed a lot since then, but never ceased to stand beside me for the good and the bad.

It took me a while to catch up after I left for college. 8 years away from home overseas, I kept thinking it was only her voice that changed. First she was smart enough to decorate the tree before I made it home. Then came the high heels. I was shorter. Then the trips to the hairdressers. I was bolder. Then the switch to a healthy diet. I was chubbier. I no longer dived into her room without knocking. She was strong enough to watch the horror movies alone in a dark room (although she might end up sneaking to grandma’s after the movie). I would have never imagined her to grow up so fast. Never imagined to be the one taking advice. Never imagined to be the one so proud of her decisions and determination. I felt privileged to be the cavalier to my tall, sexy and confident sister. We had our ups and downs, but she has always been the princess of our home.

On my most recent trip back, she found his prince to become the queen of her own home. I am heavy with emotions, motivated with pride, happy with her happiness and somber with farewell. Her engagement was the first step. Her wedding will be the next to a new life she is set to build up with her husband. Her address might change, but she will always be a call away from me to bug her anytime, anywhere. This time I promise to be a little more mature and call during reasonable hours.

Congrats to my princess, Ayse and her prince I welcome as a brother, Serkan.

Name: Cemi Almazlinos

Nickname: Cemceminay, Cemile

Notable Appearance: Beardless face with a sloppy smile

Can’t do without:Pigging out, pranks, smiling, jeans, crew neck shirts, hoodies, Converse shoes, couscous with mushroom at House Café Istanbul, junk food, Fenerbahce, pickled food

Notable Hobbies:Eating, PlayStation, eating from someone else’s plate, skiing

Weakness: Big balloons, rice, hair loss

Last Seen:Level Istanbul, Lucca Bar Istanbul, House Café Ortakoy Istanbul, Washington D.C., Burdur, Antalya

Name: Leslie Abuaf

Nickname: Abu

Notable Appearance: Petite figure, huge smile.

Can’t do without: Blackberries, Zara, pickles, capers, champagne, aviator sunglasses, small purses, tank-tops, tight jeans, the NY Mag, Cesme, Turkey, Blackberry Curve, hair-grips, flats

Notable Hobbies: Dancing, cooking on Fridays, jumping around, water fights, skiing, having pasta to cure hangover, motivating people around her with a great attitude

Weakness: Allergic to blackberries, yet can’t stop eating them; dresses, trash bins, shrimps

Favorite Quote: “Ya bu sarki neeee? Degistirsene bunuuu…”

Last Seen: Cesme, Turkey, Southside NYC, Sushi Samba 7 NYC, Central Park, Poconos Ski Resort, www.sinanbastas.com, Geneva

A heart that is worth a thousand words, a thousand guts, a thousand kisses, a thousand fights, a thousand make-ups, a thousand welcomes and a thousand farewells… It comes surprisingly soon, unexpectedly easy. Delivered on a ripped piece of paper with a borrowed pen. It is surrounded by daylight, music, food and wine. It is brought to life at a small restaurant in New York. You are having the most intriguing conversation with an Italian girl sitting at the table next to yours. You tell her about your Italian business partner and she starts teaching you the language. Your pronunciation makes her laugh. You both enjoy each other’s company in this overly-crowded and eventful restaurant you both happen to be in. An accidental acquittance, a pleasant conversation, a short piece of reminiscence  stored in your ever-expanding library…

This little piece of evidence popped out of my blazer’s inside pocket and pulled me back a few years to Le Bilboquet. One saturday, one brunch, some tuna tartare, a medium rare filet mignon and too many glasses of the famous rosé. That was how it all started…

Girls think it is so easy. Gather a few cute friends. Blow-dry the hair. Put on the make-up, a cute smile with a flirty mimic, some short tight skirts, sexy tops and high heels. Once out the door, they are ready to conquer the nightlife in New York. 80% of the bouncers will be happy to let them in and mingle with us poor guys who are forced to drink at least a few bottles of alcohol at a table with a fake sexy waitress who is looking to suck out the limits on our credit cards.

Do not tell us that we can (maybe) avoid a table reservation. We don’t have the luxury, the character or the patience to deny the rules of the game. It takes ratios, bribes, credit cards and a totally superficial acquaintance to make it to the famous club where you want to dance us until bedtime.

The moment we are behind that red velvet rope we are reminded that we are there to be spiritually abused and financially raped. We get the attitude from the host who probably can not come close to the education, vision and culture we have been injected with over the years. We become the victim in front of an “average Joe” looking to abuse all the power he/she has been surprisingly given as the person who decides who to let into this luscious club that will only be popular for a few more months. We are constantly asked how many is in our party as we watch weird guys cutting through the line with their whole clan. We point towards the faces of our friends hoping they will pass the “beauty” test. We overhear the bouncers deciding the faith of our night by asking each other “what do you think?” with an extremely arrogant face. We wait. We ask for attention like a helpless puppy although a lion roars “you are too good for this” inside, grabbing onto our male ego. We are finally slapped with the sentence “I.D.s out!”. We hug although we despise. We shake hands although we hate the deal.

Each time we walk up to that club door we have cramps thinking about the next step. Yet, we walk the line with the prospect of a fun night with close friends. We take the attitude with the hope of a kiss from a girl we fancy. Alcohol helps only to ease the tension built up at the start of a night out in the city.

We pay the bill with a bad hangover and a regret that reminds us how we will pull through another night out in the city that never sleeps.

Yasmin brought this quote to my attention yesterday. She says it is currently her most favorite and I think she has all the reasons to make it so. It summarizes all the things I wanted to say in Precious in one single sentence. Its author is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known by his pen name, Mark Twain.

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.

Name: Cem Ciprut

Nickname: Cipo

Notable Appearance: Shaved beard, short hair, green eyes. Unique and very enthusiastic laughter.

Can’t do without: V-neck sweaters on top of dress shirts, jeans, bright black leather shoes, Panerai Watches, Osmancan Ongun, knee-length black coats, Saturday Brunch by Sinan

Notable Hobbies: Clubbing, traveling, solving mathematical equations

Weakness: Banana milkshake, alcohol shots

Last Seen: Eclipse Bar London, Bijoux London, Anjelique Istanbul, Le Cave St. Stropez, Pisarou Beach Mykonos, Turkbuku Bodrum, Eftelya Istanbul, Lucca Bar Istanbul

Frank Sinatra once said “I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps” and pointed towards New York. Since then New York’s lights have never faded. 24 hours a day and 7 days a week there was one city that had something to do, someone to be with and some place to have fun. Sinatra might have gone a little too far.

There have been days when I thought the whole city was asleep. I would be comfortably positioned behind the TV, desperate yet unsuccessful to find a “partner-in-crime” or an event to take on the city. This was especially the case on Monday nights. Known as the nightmare of the workers, the first work day after an extremely peaceful and lazy Sunday had to have some kind of a plan to look forward to. Sinatra definitely forgot to mention that even in “the city that never sleeps” such plans are very hard to find.

This is where my friends Daniel and Derek Koch come in.

These two unbelievably driven event managers/promoters have been on the backstage of some of the best events I have been to in this city. I met them as waiters and watched them grow into managers of their own entertainment company, Day & Night. From happy hours, dinners to benefits, they have been working hard to make sure Sinatra’s lyrics rely on hard evidence. They decorated the dreams of women who brunched at Le Bilboquet on Saturdays. They amazed the gourmets with a delicious menu at their Jour et Nuit restaurant. They made sunglasses a fashion at Merkato 55 & Bijoux to hide from the sparkles fired up on Rose and Champagne bottles.

I fell in love with their model bouncers. I climbed on tables to dance to their DJs. We celebrated birthdays and we cried to farewells at their events. I have been there because they have never ceased to value personal attention.

They are still on fire Saturdays with their brunch at Revel in meatpacking, but I have been bugging both for a while to put together an event that can ease the pain of Mondays. The happy news came unexpectedly. They prepare to take on La Zarza (166 First Ave. between 10th and 11th st.) with two DJs from Madrid, Spain and a crowd that is ready to let it loose.

Hope to see you there. Party starts March 1st.

Name: Janos Papai

Nickname: Papa, Papai

Notable Appearance: Thick, gelled hair with a goatee. Heavy Hungarian accent

Can’t do without: Light blue jeans, plaid lumberjack shirts, glasses to protect the eyes from the rays of computer screens, heavy breakfasts, scarfs

Notable Hobbies: Travelling, going to bars, test driving cars, fixing and building stuff, quick workouts

Weakness: Sadwiches, India, Indian food

Favorite Quote: “Bastas!”

Last Seen: London, New York, Mumbai, Budapest, Latin America