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Istanbul - Regions
The Covered Bazaar with a difference
Text: Nuran Bato Photograph: Fatih M. Demirkol

Fes Café has a distinctly Pop Art style.


It is very difficult to create a true synthesis of cultures. Since 1997, Metin Tosun has succeeded in ding just that with the trio of Abdulla, Hamam and Fes Café in the Covered Bazaar.


Catherine Deneuve, Jeremy Irons
Tosun is a world traveller who used to work in shipping and lived in South Africa for 8 years. He always dreamed of opening a venue in Turkey that would be popular with foreigners. When he met Lale Cirpanoglu, a tourism graduate, the dream came true and they opened Fes Café. Their aim was to have a modern café in an ancient setting. The logo was designed by Ali Erkmen and depicts a modernised version of the clichéd image of a moustachioed man in a fez. Pop Art defines the décor, and Alessi and Bodum dominate the service used. Fes Café reminds one of Rick?s Bar in Casablanca. The menu has eastern and western dishes including Turkish cheeses and foreign coffees. The cakes are homemade by Metin Tosun?s sister Nilgun and a French lady. Federico Fellini, Catherine Deneuve and Jeremy Irons are a few of the famous names that have come here when visiting Istanbul.


Hamam sells all kinds of bath accessories.
From trousseau shirts to soap
Metin Tosun and his business partner Tayfun Utkan first sold natural products containing olive oil at their Abdulla and Hamam stores. Soon, hamam supplies and ethnic textiles such as hamam "pestemals" from all over Turkey were added. Textiles include hand woven trousseau shirts made from Ödemis silk, Kurdish wool fabrics 6 m long, natural linens and cottons and hand spun mohair blankets from Siirt. The Armenian church shawls from Southeast Anatolia are another example of the Turkish cultural mosaic. You can purchase rustic pillows and throws as well as leather and fur patchwork bedspreads.


Abdulla sells a few bath related items, but Hamam is solely dedicated to them. There are 100% cotton Ottoman-style towels including the highly luxurious Silgi towel. Olive oil soaps from Antakya come in a staggering variety of scents: rose, bay, lavender and sesame are just the tip of the iceberg. Sculptor Adnan Dogan creates works of art from large blocks of soap. Metin Tosun and Lale Cırpanoglu have one last aim to accomplish: they want to be able to serve drinks until later in the evening.


Helpful hints...
* Fes Café is open from 09.00-19 00. Address: Halicilar Caddesi No: 62, Kapalicarsi; Tel: +90 212-528 16 13.
* Try the Mocchacino made from coffee, cocoa and water.
* Sesame oil soap is good for skin problems.
* See www.abdulla.com.

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