Is she a MERMAID?

What can I say?
I was introduced to Deniz Dogruyol this summer in Turkey.
I was told:
“She is an amazing young woman, a great artist, totally up your alley”
One day I was in her home and the next at her artist studio/home in Bebek…
Then I asked her to be part of our intro to {a-la-Mo} web TV…
Soon it became apparent that there was a soul-friendship…
And here is the proof…
She puts our mutual love of seafood, our love for Cesme (Izmir),
And our endless love of the Sea…into words, much better than I ever can.
Read this PLEASURE JOURNEY from her pen…
I think it is SUPERB:


"Is it because I am from Izmir?
Or is it because my name is Deniz? (meaning sea in Turkish)
Maybe it is because my dad was a marine?
Having grown up with the view of the shoreline…
Plus being a lover of Cesme (izmir)…
I am very much one of the ones that say:
“I will eat anything as long as it is of the sea!”
Honestly I could only have a seafood diet…
The reality is I am not necessarily a gourmet.
With the exception of my obsession with dessert 
My dreams are always of the Agean tables…
The long conversations & chatters,
A soft summer breeze…
The kind that trembles your insides and outs…
For me to eat at that kind of table…
Is like photo squares from life…
Like a whole image composed of the meal, the conversations, the joy and the pleasure derived…
I can’t imagine that meal without the conversation, nor the conversation without the meal.
One has to linger…
Sit at that table as long as possible…
If it is summertime… you better start before sunset…
And continue way past midnight…
Well all memories spill on the table…
And lets ask the waiter for a shawl to cover our shoulders…
While the wind is softly whispering.
But we have not described the venue yet…
Imagine a true Agean Fish Restaurant…
Feet in sand, a weak street lamp,
Mismatched country café chairs,
No table cloth but paper… yet super chic! (I will get back to the paper cloth)
The sound of the waves is mixed with the male singers voice ( Tanju Okan)
The waiter is not doing French service…
More like a family style…
All left in the center of the table…
Looks more abundant that way…
We each help ourselves…as much as we desire…
No need to be formal… we are at a local fish restaurant…
For me…the culture of fresh seafood is casual in nature
Because everything of the sea relaxes one….
That is sometimes I do not get an upscale Fish Restaurant in Istanbul…
Besides few of my favorites… (between you & I) I find them all a bit too serious…
Ok! Then let the dishes come slowly…
Tapas…meze’s…
One’s that have fresh herbs as hero’s…
Lots of yogurt , eggplant, zucchini, and smashed carrot puree…
Greenest of the green veggies…
Salads with tons of bitter arugula
And a fashipn show of seafood & shellfish…
Some grilled calamari, if possible mostly the tentacles…
Grilled Jumbo Prawns…
Then a grilled buttered lobster, which I eat every morsel off the shells…
OMG it now is 10:30pm…
Remember we had started to eat before sunset…
Barely time for main course…
Should we have a seabass…cipura…tranca… sword fish…
While sipping Raki (Turkish Ouzo) next to it…
Isn’t life about chatting with loved ones, while eating dishes we love…
What else could complete that kind of picture…
Oh! I was to come back to the paper on the table…
As the hours go by…
My biggest pleasure now is to make my art speak…
All is my canvas now, the paper cloth, the napkin…
First I make a flower and put it on my ear..
Then I begin to take orders from my friends at the table…
I make birds, bugs, and flowers… whatever they wish for…
All orders are custom and delivered on the spot…
Deniz My Paper Art is always here to create your dreams and beyond your imagination…
Now that we have finished production…
It is time for Turkish coffee and Ayva Tatlisi {Caramelized Quince}
Now that we are way past midnight
The joy has risen…
We all start humming a familiar song, none of us want to get up and leave…
All sorts of fullness is now being experienced…
All faces are glowing…a shimmer in your eyes…
That is the most incredible scene from life…
Because at that moment not only the tummies are full…
So are the souls…
That is why we should not have meals without conversations…
Words shared our the spice of the meal… the salt & the pepper…
I feel like catching a plane to Cesme (Izmir) now…
I lived all that I wrote tonight…


PS: If you happen to be in Cesme..
Stop by ILDIR ADA BALIK and/or CIFTLIK LANGUSTA…