Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.

June 15 is celebrated as Father's Day in Turkey, so this is our fathers’ issue — stirred by a recent restaurant and gallery hop with my father, who, at 85, still teaches hospitality business at Ozyegin University. When we go out, students-turned-chefs and hoteliers greet him like visiting royalty, and I tag along as his entourage.

This week, we raise a glass to Istanbul's father figures: the bakers of Kadikoy, the painters of still life and the legacy-leavers with their swords, suitcases, sourdough and symbolism.

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Thanks for reading,

Nazlan

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: A feast for the eyes

“Untitled” by Ismet Birsel, a painter and Turkey’s former representative to the Council of Europe. (Photo by Nazlan Ertan)

"Taste and Art: Delicious Paintings," now on view at Turkiye Is Bankasi Museum of Painting and Sculpture, tempts both eye and appetite. Curated by writer and art historian Gul Irepoglu, the show features over 200 works by 90 artists — from Ottoman-era pioneers like Seker Ahmet Pasa to early Republican modernists such as Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu and Hale Asaf.

The exhibition sprawls across two floors and into........

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