9 IN expat foodies invited to F&BGI's 34th dinner (Istanbul)

34th (F&BGI event) on the 31st (of March Protected content
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(Events' impulse clickers or those who click with no intention to attend, please stay away! No-show names will be noted and printed here in IN and in other social media sites like Facebook).

Saturday, March 31, Protected content
7:30pm until 11:00pm

OKKA at W Hotel istanbul,Akaretler, Beşıktaş, Istanbul (take lift to 3rd floor or walk up.)

9 expat Internations foodies are cordially invited to the 34th event that would mark the second anniversary of our Food and Beverage Group Istanbul. And, boy, has the group come along way.

We’re not as manic as when we started when we had a couple of events a month (and there are those who are still part of the group who can attest to this ), but we’ve been upping the bar every time, making the once-a-month gathering of passionate Istanbul foodies something to be remembered and the next one to look forward to.

But just as some attendees thought that every last event cannot be topped, along came an opportunity that buoyed up the moderator’s can-do spirit and his will to try.

This time, our second anniversary dinner is being made as special as the occasion calls for by an amazingly talented chef who – as Rene Ames wrote in the March Protected content of Time Out Istanbul – has had a successful range of F&B businesses since returning here in Protected content a series of kitchen stints in the US and after schooling in the prestigious Lausanne Hospitality Management School and Center International of Glion Hospitality School. OKKA at the W Hotel Istanbul is his latest restaurant venture and the concept for this is that of a high-end meyhane in a modern bistro setting.

However, for our 34th dinner, the multilingual, serially married Chef-owner and naturally congenial Tolga Atalay has been challenged to come up with a WINE-PAIRED set menu that is several notches more refined than his already excellent meyhane fare, one that would surely redefine Contemporary Turkish Cuisine for us because it’s not like anything you and I have had elsewhere. Or at least not with the very active F&BGI.

Menu

***Beef cheek & celery soupe façon macchiato
***The 3 mezzes & 3 herbs
***Dried aubergine farcie & taverna liver with lemon butter
***Fibered beef rib with black hive honey & balsamic
***The most tender chicken kebab
***2 sour Risotto of local grey Konya truffle & white Alba truffle oil
***“Kus boku” (literal translation: bird shit) pistachio cremeux with knife-cut lamb kebab & crispy bread
***Tahini Halva ice cream & almond pumpkin tower

UNLIMITED four excellent premium wines will accompany the progress of the dinner: Corvus TENEIA Çavus Protected content Sarafin Fume Blanc Protected content Kavalidere EGEO Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot Protected content and a surprising rose to go with the dessert: Kayra BEYAZ Kalecik Karasi Protected content .

Maximum guest capacity: Protected content , 9 Internations)

CASH payment ONLY of 110TL…think that a glass of one of the above-mentioned wines at OKKA would already set you back 25TL. Needless to say, it’s Tolga’s anniversary treat to us.

Anniversary dressing is requested.

Assembly Cocktails sharply at 7:30 pm.
Sit down to dinner promptly at 8pm