Hi Everyone!

My name is Zeynep and I was born and raised in McLean, VA. My family owns a mom and pop restaurant called Kazan Restaurant. Being born into the restaurant business and attending recreational culinary school at L’academie de Cuisine, you can only imagine my love for food! I like baking and cooking but I LOVE eating!

I grew up in the kitchen both at the restaurant and at home. My inspiration came from both my parents but mostly my father who was a chef before opening his own restaurant in 1980 (which is the same one we have today). Growing up, my father was able to make anything I wanted and made it look so easy until one day I realized it wasn’t as easy as it seemed! It was then that I asked him if I could take some recreational cooking classes. Instructor and Chef Patrice Olivon made me realize that food isn’t what we eat on a daily basis but that it’s a form of art.

Learning how to make “su borek” which can refer either to flakey phyllo dough or to boiled noodles that are layered with a feta cheese and dill or other variety of fillings. Yum!

Here I am in the kitchen trying to look like I’m making something fancy but in reality I was just adding red onions and capers on top of smoked salmon 🙂

Besides eating and drinking good wine, I love love love traveling! Who doesn’t right? These past few years I’ve been able to travel to quite a few places. I realized that where ever I went, I obviously wanted to explore the county but eating is what made me the happiest! I would constantly Yelp and Google the best places to eat whether it was a fancy five star restaurant or a hole in the wall. I found myself looking through my camera roll of only food! It was then that I realized that maybe I should share my experiences with everyone.

They say it’s better late than never so I hope you enjoy my journey as I start my blog with the places I go!

Cheers!
Zee