Memories of the Wind, Time of Smoke: 25 Years of Istanbul Cafes

My relationship with Istanbul's cafes spans a quarter of a century. The first one I visited was near the Tophane tram station, tucked away beside a mosque. Before the surrounding area underwent redevelopment, a somewhat leisurely pace of time flowed there. On summer nights, I would surrender myself to the breeze blowing in from the Bosphorus, puffing on a hookah. Just being there gave me the feeling that I could synchronize with the city's atmosphere.

However, that scenery did not last long. Later, after I was assigned to Iran, I stopped by when I visited Istanbul, only to find the shop renovated and playing loud music videos. Redevelopment had progressed in the vicinity, with shopping malls and museums built nearby, and the very contours of the city had changed. The once somewhat defenseless atmosphere, open to time, had vanished, and it felt as though the space had tilted toward something more consumer-oriented.

Amidst such changes, I began to find myself drawn to the Ali Pasha Medrese, located near the Grand Bazaar in the Old City.

In the courtyard, once used as a theological school, multiple cafes coexist with blurred boundaries. Stepping through the stone corridors, the noise of the outside world softens, and a different kind of time takes over. While there are tourists, there are even more local regulars, and waiters carrying trays of tea constantly pass by. Black tea, apple tea, sage tea. You are rarely kept waiting when you order a drink.

Here, the flow of time throughout the day is not uniform. During the day, the bustle dominates, but in an instant, silence descends. As the night deepens, the number of people begins to increase, and the smoke of hookahs rises. The 'time of just being there' that I once felt in Tophane remains here, albeit in a different form.

The scene surrounding hookahs is also changing. It used to have a strong impression of being a pastime for older men, but in recent years, the presence of young people has become noticeable. The sight of them puffing on smoke with a smartphone in one hand is a new Istanbul landscape. Changes in Turkish society as a whole, and even the transformation in how it distances itself from the Arab world—which could be called the 'home of the hookah'—may be casting a shadow over these changes.

For me, this was not merely a place of rest. I would stop by between work, think about interview arrangements, and rearrange the structure of a draft in my head. This space, where bustle and silence gently alternate, was also the perfect place for such moments of contemplation.

From Tophane to Ali Pasha Medrese. The location has changed, but what I have sought in cafes has likely not changed much. It is a place within the city where one can slightly shift away from the flow of time. Perhaps these past 25 years have been a trajectory of continuing to search for such places.