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When it comes to exploring a city’s authentic dining scene, while the stomach should ideally serve as the best compass, the truth is that it’s hard to find your way without good local advice. That’s where Culinary Backstreets’ Culinary Walks come in.
Our small group walks lead visitors on an educating eating binge through a city’s lesser-seen historic side streets and authentic markets, visiting countless hard-to-find culinary gems and, in between bites, a select number of untouristed historic monuments.
In today’s world, a city’s culinary scene is the most significant and accessible repository of local culture. Eating locally and authentically has become the easiest–and tastiest–route to getting a sense of a place’s real traditions. Let us show you the way.
How To Book
Once you have decided which one of our culinary walks you are interested in, simply click here to email us and someone from our team will get back in touch with you as quickly as possible with a confirmation or, in case the walk you want is fully booked on your requested dates, with other options.
In order to give our guests the best possible experience, our usually try to keep the size of our walks to no more than six people. Because of that, please keep in mind that many of our walks fill up quickly, so it’s a good idea to book as early as possible.
If you have any other questions about booking or our walks, feel free to email us at walks@culinarybackstreets.com.
About Us
Culinary Backstreets was launched in 2012 by Ansel Mullins and Yigal Schleifer, founders of IstanbulEats.com, the leading food guide and provider of culinary walks in Istanbul.
The idea behind Culinary Backstreets is simple: allow travelers to discover a city's authentic and traditional culture through its food. Our purpose is twofold. Yes, we want to get you to some good places to eat. But we also want to make sure that some of these spots and the artisans making food there – unsung heroes who are sometimes forgotten or taken for granted at home – find a new audience and get the recognition and support they deserve. They are holding back the tide of globalized sameness, which is not easy work – even if it's done unknowingly. But we believe that every meal counts and, with the help of our readers and those who go on our walks, they will add up.
Our guides are passionate local eaters, many of them the same people who write the reviews of small, family-run and off-the-eaten path restaurants featured on our site. Our culinary walks, based on our own explorations of the backstreets we cover, are designed to not only take you to those hidden spots we discover, but to also pull you into the living story of a particular part of the city you are visiting. From our experience, it's the best way to get to know a place.
We look forward to having you join us on one of our walks!
In The Press
NY Times:
"Some of the sprawling city's best-kept snacking secrets and its most reliable holes in the wall can be found on any of the four tours bookable on the Web site istanbuleats.com."
New York Times, July 2012
CBS Morning Show:
"[Culinary Backstreets] cater to tourists, who don't want to feel like tourists, by organizing curated walking tours through the ancient alleyways and local bazaars"
CBS Morning Show, November 2012
The Huffington Post US:
"I can't say if it was the food or the company or the history and culture I'd soaked in, but I left the restaurant that day feeling rapturously full...I also left with a better understanding of Turkish cuisine."
Huffington Post, March 2013
The Washington Post:
"a calorie-laden tour of Turkish delights"
"We've only strolled a little more than a mile in the past six hours, but it feels as if we've canvassed the whole of Turkey. We are exhausted and exhilarated. And very, very full."
Washington Post, July 2011
Serious Eats:
"... the day I spent on one of their tours was easily the best eating day I had in Istanbul."
"It's not just that they have a keen eye for what's delicious–they do–but that we share a sense of what's worth discovering. Food unique to a place, with a story in that place. Food made by people who care about it, about their craft; food worth talking about, worth traveling for."
"...the 'Two Markets, Two Continents' tour led us around neighborhoods I otherwise might not have visited, making for a great tour of the city as well as just its food..."
Serious Eats, January 2013
New York Magazine:
"Eating-wise, don't miss local food blog Istanbul Eats' new six-hour Two Markets, Two Continents culinary tour"
New York Magazine, April 2013
The Huffington Post UK:
"...a merry dance through some of the city's best kept secrets, places which you won't find in the guidebooks but that the locals flock to."
Huffington Post UK, January 2013
Financial Times:
"'This is an explorer's city, an eater's city – you learn so much about modern Turkey through its food. But it takes time to go beyond the surface, to discover Turkish identity.'...After a day touring the city's eateries, that goal seems a little bit closer."
Financial Times, October 2012
Conde Nast Traveller: The Experts
"They [Culinary Backstreets] are your sure-fire ticket to overcoming the problem of language barriers and logistics..."
Conde Nast Traveller: The Experts
Our walks are also recommended in several leading guidebooks and review sites:
TripAdvisor
Lonely Planet
National Geographic
Rough Guide
