The spirit of Istanbul lived not only in stone buildings but also in tavern tables.
If you want to understand the memory of a neighborhood today, it is enough to listen to its old taverns. Because a tavern was not just a place to drink raki; it was a small hometown of manners, etiquette, conversation and the culture of sitting at the same table.
I saw it for the first time at Madame Despina, the first real tavern my father took me to. One of the old Istanbul tables with music, with dozens of different appetizers on the table, where people enjoyed themselves without crushing each other...
His first place was in Gayrettepe. But don't confuse it with today's Gayrettepe. Back then, it was a neighborhood of orchards, not concrete towers. There were lands cultivated by Albanian families. Istanbul was still breathing. Then Madame Despina moved to Kurtuluş; Kurtuluş was one of the last bastions of Istanbul's tavern culture in those years.
Today, I still remember the taste of that leaf liver and the smell of the shepherd's roast. But as the years pass, one realizes this: It's not just the food that makes a tavern unforgettable. The main thing was the harmony at the table.
Everyone was at those tables. There were those who came with their mistresses and those who came with their wives... But no one disturbed anyone's peace. No one would disturb the next table, no one would “walk up” to anyone in today's language. People went to have fun, not to hunt. Glasses were raised at the same time, songs were sung at the same time. There was respect at those tables.
Now a new system has been established, which they call “new generation tavern”. You walk in; it's not a tavern, it's like a casting environment... Flavor is secondary, there's no conversation, no love. The music beats your ears. There is a heavy perfume smell. Everyone stares at each other but no one listens to anyone.
Because it is no longer a tavern culture, but a consumer culture. People used to put characters on a table, now they put photos. There used to be a fasıl, now there is a DJ. In the past, friendship used to be talked about, now it's about who sees whom.
The sad part of the story is that corruption started in these tables. When the spirit of the tavern was lost, so was the spirit of Istanbul. On top of that, when a system was established that was culturally distant to alcohol but too close to taxation, a strange picture emerged. Drink is now treated as a luxury, not a pleasure. Venues are shaped accordingly; fast consumption areas are opened instead of quality mehk tables.
If there are still people today who talk about the old taverns, it is not just about nostalgia.
They are actually describing a lost decency, an Istanbul manners and the culture of sitting at the same table.