Rejans, a veteran Russian restaurant in Istanbul's Beyoglu district, is one of those institution's that over time has become less about the food (which get middling reviews) and more about the memories it evokes. Founded by Russian refugees nearly 80 years ago, the restaurant has played host to, among others, Agatha Christie and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey's secularizing founder. For many older Istanbulites, the name Rejans still evokes memories of a bygone era, when Istanbul was a truly a cosmopolitan city. After all these years, though, it now seems that the restaurant's future is in jeopardy, with a legal battle brewing between Rejans's owner and the people who have the lease to run it whose end result could be the creation of a new restaurant in the place where Rejans today stands. The Hurriyet Daily News has the full (and very confusing) story here.
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