Istanbul. June, 2007

Happy birthday to my friend Nick, seen here playing peek-a-boo at Topkapi Palace.

Edirne, Turkey. June, 2007

Less than three hours by bus from Istanbul lies Edirne, the former Adrianople and the country's capital before it was moved to Constantinople. I went there one day to see the famed mosques, to see what Turkey looked like outside Istanbul, to have a scrub and a massage in a real Turkish hamam. On my hike out of the center of town to see that mosque in the distance, I had not gone two blocks before the surroundings turned mighty rural, as you can see here.

Edirnekapı, Istanbul. June, 2007

A short distance from the city center is the neighborhood of Edirnekapı, home to the Chora Church (and its remarkably preserved mosaics) and, right next door, the restaurant Asitane. Graced with a leafy garden, the perfect setting for a lazy June afternoon lunch, Asitane specializes in historic recipes from the records of royal kitchens stretching back over centuries. This little tray of welcoming spreads was just the beginning.

Istanbul. June, 2007

Now that's what I call an oven vent. This, one of several in the Sultan's kitchens in Topkapi Palace.

Istanbul. June, 2007

Friends in Turkey advise that this might not be the best time to visit their beautiful country. A failed coup. A bloody purge. Fatal bombings...including a recent one on Istanbul's famed mile-long pedestrian street, the Istiklal Caddesi, "Victory Street." This week, some memories from my first visit to the City of the World's Desire, including this "sweets on parade" at Saray, located right in the middle of the Istiklal.

Tucson. November, 2006

Not all desert plants are cactus. Some look like this one, thriving in filtered sunlight in my friend David's beautiful backyard garden.

New York, NY. December, 2006

A beautifully lit wall panel of divers (inspired by the famed divers of Acapulco) graces the dining room of a popular Mexican restaurant in Manhattan. (It shall remain nameless because it did a friend of mine dirty, withholding royalties after using his recipes.)