Esnaf Lokantası Mahmut Usta

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"As many travelers have learned, some of any city’s best food can be found at the casual lunchtime eateries that fuel its working class. In Turkey, that place is the esnaf lokantası (tradesman’s restaurant). All types of people — women fresh from the hairdresser, bankers, shopkeepers — sit together at this esnaf lokantası, tucked away in a small alley in the Kemeraltı neighborhood. Mahmut Usta guards his amazing hot food counter, chatting animatedly with his regulars as they peruse items like işkembeli nohut (chickpeas with tripe), kelle paça (head and trotter soup), balık çorbası (fish soup), kuzu sarma in springtime (lamb intestines cooked in its own broth with potatoes), and ekşili köfte (meatballs in lemon sauce). Green chiles come with every dish, as do heaps of dried and fried red peppers on fatty yogurt." - Tuba Şatana