MY OPPORTUNITY
A Dutch chef finds her big break in Istanbul
Text : Emily Stefania Coscione
Eveline (in glasses)
and
class at her Turkish
cookery school
By her own admission, chef Eveline Zoutendijk never stays put for long. Although born in the Netherlands, a passion for travel led her to Switzerland, New York and Paris, where she studied cookery at Le Cordon Bleu. Her next stop was Istanbul, where Eveline first operated a hotel and has now opened a restaurant in the historic Sultanahmet quarter. The restaurant is part of her latest venture, Cooking Alaturka, a cookery school with a fast-growing international reputation.
“I started offering courses five years ago to complement the business of the hotel,” she says. “I had a huge area to work in and an excellent chef. The combination of these factors and a love of Turkish cuisine with all its variety and rich colour convinced me to try out teaching.”
The school now attracts students from every continent, yet success hasn’t come easily: “Crises, attacks, wars, economic recession- In spite of everything, I kept going and now business is booming.”
Eveline also has a literary career. She contributed a memoir to the collection Tales from the Expat Harem. Also, “I want to write a book about my adventures some time soon. And who knows? Maybe I’ll open another hotel. But I have no intention of leaving Istanbul. I like it too much for that!” www.cookingalaturka.com