Paul Benjamin Osterlund, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

Istanbul’s Kent Lokantası

2 weeks ago | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

It’s a grey early spring day in the bustling coastal district of Üsküdar on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. The holy month of Ramadan is in its last days, and many Istanbullites are fasting until the evening. Some of those who aren’t are waiting in a long queue outside of the local kent lokantası (“city restaurant”) for a late lunch, and this is the best deal around. 40 TL (US $1.05) gets you a main course with meat, a side or two, and a bowl of soup.
Top-notch Chicken Doner at Istanbul’s Uğur Büfe

3 weeks ago | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

Perhaps the most glorious and satisfying aspect about calling Istanbul home is the infinite potential for discovery. Even on streets we’ve wandered down hundreds or thousands of times, we still find ourselves noticing small details, like a hand-painted apartment sign; a grand, winding staircase at the entrance of an old building; or the fading blue address numbers that were replaced years ago but can still be spotted here and there in Istanbul’s older, central neighborhoods.
Street clashes to continue in Turkey’s largest protests since Gezi

1 month ago | turkeyrecap.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

İSTANBUL — Under light rain and heavy pepper spray, a large crowd of protestors stood their ground against riot police in Saraçhane, İstanbul, Sunday night. The two groups clashed between volleys of tear gas near the Valens Aqueduct until after midnight when security forces changed tactics. Police officers soon chased demonstrators on foot and beat them to the ground in an effort to scatter the remaining crowd.
Street clashes to continue in Turkey’s largest protests since Gezi

1 month ago | open.substack.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

İSTANBUL — Under light rain and heavy pepper spray, a large crowd of protestors stood their ground against riot police in Saraçhane, İstanbul, Sunday night. The two groups clashed between volleys of tear gas near the Valens Aqueduct until after midnight when security forces changed tactics. Police officers soon chased demonstrators on foot and beat them to the ground in an effort to scatter the remaining crowd.
Istanbul’s Best Hummus at Antakya İşi Sokak Lezzetleri

2 months ago | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

Nevizade Street is one of the most buzzing parts of the Beyoğlu district, the heart of nightlife and cultural activity in Istanbul, but it has weathered its fair share of ups and downs in recent years. For a variety of economic and political reasons, Nevizade’s vitality has suffered, and we’ve had to witness the closure of some of the area’s most emblematic spots.
Delicious Döner at Ata Lokantası

Nov 21, 2024 | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

In Sanayi Mahallesi – an Istanbul neighborhood where the streets are lined with hundreds of mechanic workshops and auto supply stores – most people are looking for spare car parts or a place to get their Fiat fixed. We, on the other hand, came here in search of döner.
Albanian Specialties at By Arnavut in Bayrampaşa

Oct 23, 2024 | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa district is located just to the east of the city’s historic 5th-century walls, and is synonymous with industry, unchecked urban growth, and immigrants from the Balkans. One neighborhood has a replica of Bosnia’s Mostar Bridge, while dozens of restaurants can be found serving the specialties of Sancak, a Bosnian Muslim region that is nowadays split between Serbia and Montenegro, and from which a huge number of Bayrampaşa residents trace their roots.
Masterful Çiğ Köfte in Istanbul's Fatih District

Oct 9, 2024 | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

In the heart of Istanbul’s Fatih district, not far from the colossal mosque of the same name and the headquarters of the city municipality, there is no shortage of great places to eat. These range from the popular kebab joints of Kadınlar Pazarı to the Syrian restaurants, markets, dessert shops, and coffee stands on Akşemsettin Avenue, which also boasts one of the city’s best and oldest yogurt producers.
Patlıcan Kebabı at Kebapçı Osman Usta 1976

Sep 19, 2024 | culinarybackstreets.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund

Kebapçı Osman Usta 1976 is located in the crowded neighborhood of Şirinevler, a corner of Istanbul that has fascinated us for years. Separated from the idyllic upper-middle class, tree-lined suburb of Ataköy by Istanbul’s main highway but linked with a pedestrian footbridge built above it, Şirinevler is the polar opposite of its southern neighbor: dense, working class, chaotic, and lacking in green space.
The Ghost of Kyiv

Sep 2, 2024 | escapeartist.com | Paul Benjamin Osterlund |Rachael Marie Collins |Joel Nagel |Tiphini Axtell

For most of 2023, my bedroom window looked out onto a 30-foot-tall, blue-gray mural of the heroic Ghost of Kyiv. Word of the flying ace’s exploits spread like wildfire in the days after Russia’s late February 2022 invasion. He was said to have downed six Russian aircraft as enemy forces attempted to take the capital.