"For groovy grandeur A 19th-century Italianate palazzo-turned-US Consulate lends itself perfectly to the Soho House aesthetic. When it opened, Soho House Istanbul was the group’s most ambitious yet, and for many, it’s still the most beautiful, with all the original detail preserved: painted and paneled-oak walls, frescoed and embellished ceilings, intricate Art Nouveau ironwork, and marble staircases the color of tobacco. It’s an altogether grand, grown-up backdrop for the group’s clubby decor—midcentury furniture, armchairs in leather, velvet and cane— mixed up with elements from the locale: antique Turkish rugs, and hammams in the spa. Up top, the palazzo sprouts a green crop of trees offering sun-dappled shade over Apheleia Terrace, its brand-new rooftop restaurant, where Mykonos chef Athinagoras Kostakis has devised a menu of punchy Mediterranean mezzes with a Mexican twist. Fittingly it’s bang in Beyoğlu, the bohemian neighborhood where Orhan Pamuk set his novels, vibrant with restaurants and bars, independent galleries and boutiques."
