Preamble to Turkey

To get in the mood for all things Turkey, we traveled to Richardson TX, just North of Dallas TX. (should North be capitalized?)

Destan restaurant was a great place to set the mood for travel to Turkey. We decided to learn about the food first. The restaurant has a salad bar, buffet or menu order. Take my advice, and take two scoops of the hummus on the salad bar. It's that good. Besides the best-hummus-you'll-ever-eat, we tried the Iskender kebab and Adana kebab. A fairly new restaurant, Destan, has opened in a strip mall. It's only a couple of blocks from the University of Texas - Dallas campus. Destitute students should eat at Destan's. Prices are fair, food is good, and portions are generous.

It's decorated with Turkish rugs on the wall, and the fanciest teapots you'll ever see. 4 big screen TVs are easy to watch if you don't like eating alone.

The owner, Burhan Kizilkaya, (yes, I had to ask him to spell it for me) and chef humored us and came out took pix with us for our scrapbook adventure.

We asked the chef to make us anything Turkish, and this is one of the dishes he prepared for us. I am still full.

Stay tuned. We're going to learn all things Turkey!