Turkish Cuisine In Williston -- Also, Merle Haggard, Apple, And Ledecky -- April 6, 2016

From The Williston Herald:

WILLISTON — A transplant of Turkey, Aghahuseyn Amirguliyer, traveled around the U.S. for years, and in that time he admits he was always hungry. His hunger was for the cuisine he grew up with, and it’s inspired him to begin a restaurant of his own.

“I was traveling a lot,” Amirguliyer said, when he first came to the states. “I couldn’t find anything to eat except for pizza and hamburgers. I was hungry everywhere I went.”

He sought to open a restaurant in New York, but the already crowded food market would prove to be difficult to crack. Gears shifted when he received a call from a friend telling him about a little town in North Dakota that was experiencing exponential economic growth, but was lacking diversity of flavors.

Through his friend’s suggestion, Amirguliyer found his way to Williston to test the waters and see if the community had a palate for what he looked to create.

Last summer he offered delivery service, which quickly rose to 35 orders a day, and when he saw Turkish cuisine could be a successful draw, he began scouting a location to open a storefront.

“For one year we had hard times,” Amirguliyer said. “But I knew I can bring new taste to the community.”

The friend who told him about the opportunity in Williston — and now his business partner  Agha Asgarov, helped secure a location on 8th Ave. The empty walls were a blank canvas that took them 8 months to build out with dining area, kebab grill, and vertical spits, customary for cooking in Turkey.

The Istanbul Kebab House opened its doors to the public on Monday, which brought traffic solely by word of mouth and social media. The steady stream of customers kept flames hissing and spiced meat aroma hanging in the air.

The success stems from the owner’s ability to hire his chef, Mustafa Kara, who has 25 years experience cooking traditional food in Turkey before coming to the U.S. The menu offers a taste of authentic Turkish cuisine that Amirguliyer said is identical to what can be found in his homeland.

Much more at the link. 

This is really quite a story. We were stationed for two years in Turkey. In addition, I was deployed to Turkey many times before we were stationed there as a family. The Turks would bend over backwards to exceed their customers' expectations. 

Two stories: when we ate in Turkish restaurants in the "alley" outside the air base, we were given a menu. Generally speaking three of the four of us enjoyed authentic Turkish cuisine but often our younger daughter preferred something not on the menu. She would order what she wanted even if it was not on the menu. The waiter would say "no problem." She always got what she ordered. How? The waiter went to another restaurant in the "alley" and ordered what she wanted if his own restaurant did not have it.

Second story: late, late one night, a traveler showed up at a small inn looking for a room. All the rooms were taken. The traveler was desperate. The proprietor told the traveler to wait 30 minutes and he would find a bed for him. The next thing the traveler heard was a lot of commotion and a lot of hammering. Thirty minutes later the traveler had a bed and a room. The proprietor took some plywood and literally put up a wall in an existing room between two beds (one with an occupant; one empty) and made two rooms out of one. True story. 

Two years in Turkey provides me with a lifetime worth of stories. Turkey was probably my favorite assignment along with northern England (Scotland for all intents and purposes). If I was given the chance to return to Turkey tonight (and I did not have Sophia to worry about), I would jump at the chance. 

One other note: at 107 8th Avenue West, this "restaurant" is located at a very, very interesting location, right along the BNSF railroad tracks midway between J Dub's Bar & Grill and my family's independent insurance agency. One more reason to visit Williston again.

**********************************

Sophia's Idea Board

On the refrigerator we have a dry-erase "idea board" at "eye level" for Sophia. During our move this past weekend, I asked Sophia to draw a layout of the apartment and identify where she would place the furniture. Here is her floor plan. The only two things we did not agree to was a "milk bar" in the crafts room, nor her own private snack bar.

Sophia At Her Idea Board

The Merle Haggard Page

RIP

Merle Haggard, country music legend, dies at 79. The New York Times:

Few country artists have been as popular and widely admired as Mr. Haggard, a ruggedly handsome performer who strode onto a stage, guitar in hand, as a poet of the common man. Thirty-eight of his singles, including “Workin’ Man Blues” and the 1973 recession-era lament “If We Make It Through December,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard country chart from 1966 to 1987. He released 71 Top 10 country hits in all, 34 in a row from 1967 to 1977. Seven of his singles crossed over to the pop charts.

He had an immense influence on other performers — not just other country singers but also ’60s rock bands like the Byrds and the Grateful Dead, as well as acts like Elvis Costello and the Mekons, all of whom recorded Mr. Haggard’s songs. Some 400 artists have released versions of his 1968 hit “Today I Started Loving You Again.”

He was always the outsider. His band was aptly named the Strangers.

Unlike his friend Johnny Cash, Mr. Haggard didn’t merely visit San Quentin State Prison in California to perform for the inmates. Convicted of burglary in 1957, he served nearly three years there and spent his 21st birthday in solitary confinement.

***************************

The Apple Page

I don't think I ever posted this, but after seeing the iPhone SE, I thought to myself, these things are going to be flying off the shelf. They are really, really nifty. Now this report over at Macrumors: yes, they are flying off the shelf:

Nearly one week following the launch of the iPhone SE, availability of the new 4-inch smartphone continues to tighten. Apple now lists a standard delivery estimate of around April 22-27 in the U.S. for the majority of iPhone SE models, while in-store stock is depleted in many major cities. 

Apple's online Personal Pickup tool reveals that the iPhone SE is out of stock at many retail stores nationwide, including most or all locations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Denver, Portland, Raleigh, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

******************************** 

The Katie Ledecky Page

Featured in Vogue, March 31, 2016:

Nineteen-year-old Katie Ledecky has emerged as a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, breaking multiple world records in races short and long. What’s her secret? asks Robert Sullivan (italics at source).

One of the reasons it is difficult to see precisely what makes Katie Ledecky perhaps the greatest athlete in America, and maybe the planet, is that when she comes out of her house it is dark, as in very dark, as in 4:25 in the morning. Naturally, conversation at this hour is limited: The swimmer is under the hood of her parka and savoring those last few moments before the 5:00 a.m. plunge, while her father, David Ledecky, who is ferrying her to practice, is DJ-ing a little classic rock, as fathers driving their nineteen-year-old daughters anywhere typically do.

Ninety minutes and thousands of strokes later, at the pool at Georgetown Prep, in Bethesda, Maryland, where Ledecky trains six days a week, it’s easy to spot the swimmer who has broken her own world record in the 800-meter freestyle an astounding four times since 2013. She is the six-foot-tall woman powering through her laps alongside the men, a few lanes away from the rest of the women. Seated in the stands is the swimmer’s mother, Mary Gen (short for Mary Genevieve), who doesn’t get into the particulars of her daughter’s technique.

“You should ask Katie,” she says. “I wonder what she’ll say. We try to stay out of strategies. We just try to make sure she’s happy.”

To that end, Mary Gen Ledecky sprints from the pool before practice is over, places an order on her phone, and drives to the Ledeckys’ favorite deli, Ize’s, to pick up breakfast. Does the Olympian order special açai powders or protein shakes that were originally tested by NASA? Does she favor anything that gives a clue as to how a person can win only gold medals since her 2012 Olympic debut as a fifteen-year-old? Or how, given her subsequent golds in the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter freestyle races at the FINA World Championships in Russia last August, she pulled off a first-time-in-history coup that, by the way, set world records in the 800 and 1,500, when people had thought that maybe she was good only at short distances?

(“I don’t know if she has any weaknesses,” Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin said recently. “If she does, we haven’t seen them yet.”)

Sportswriters are pulling muscles trying to explain the significance of this four-event sweep by Ledecky, which is akin to a runner’s taking the gold in the 100-yard dash and then doing the same for the marathon.

“Katie wants an omelet,” says her mom. “She doesn’t really eat anything special.”

Much more at the link. Makes me want to subscribe to Vogue.