WHAT PEOPLE SAID

Asiye Cengiz

I grew up in a crowded household with many kids. The number of people in the house were always at two digits. Our house was a place of joy, enthusiasm, plenty of humour and even fights at times, but mostly it was a place where everything, from the hard work to the well earned food, was shared. Now I look at my other siblings, and most of them are like me; magnets of their social circle, the organizers, the ones who welcome everybody… So our situation is hereditary…

It was the same in our house in Beşiktaş in the 80s. We all would dine together, and sleep wherever we found comfortable. All of us (!) moved to Cihangir in 1994. That lovely terrace had become like my flesh and bone in 14 years. I don’t know whether it was the energy that comes with the range of age from my 20s to my 41 years, or if it was that magical light of the house, but we had so much fun there!!! God, those poetry nights... coziness of the fireplace… endless barbecue meals during the summer… the baby seagulls we raised and set free… relationships arising from experiences at that house, marriages… dance parties… Aaand Hüseyin and Assos Festival visitors came along with him, in those first years...

Hestia, my beautiful girl, was born in such an environment. Everything came together like the birth of a baby that patiently waited for its time! The impossible miraculously became possible, everything fell into place, and ran smoothly like clear water. In September of 2008, a Thursday that fell into Ramadan time, Hestia lit its first stove, and thanked everybody who worked in her construction with an iftar dinner she cooked in her fire, filling the place with blessings.

Ever since, this venue embraced every sincere and friendly person who came through the door. Every accessory, every detail you see inside has a story. It doesn’t belong only to me, Hestia is a place of commune effort. Everyone looks out for her, everyone pitches in. The cultural heritage immersed in its walls from Bilsak days has paved the road for its new life, like a new beginning…

Wishing to share many sweet memories, together in health, within its walls…

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Pürnur Soğangöz – Altuğ Dalkıran

Hestia came into our lives years ago like a breeze, and this magical breeze kept blowing sweetly, thanks to the motivating constructive energy and the big, loving, all-embracing heart of our dear Asiye. We shared everything at the hearth of Hestia as friends of Hestia…sometimes adding our joy, our hopes and excitement to the pot, other times sharing our grief along with the warmth of halva we all roast together.

Out of all the brilliant Hestia meets, the most exciting one was a gift from our Hestia friends; our wedding. Goddess Hestia touched the heart of all our Hestia friends and gave us an unfathomable and unforgettable night; and in a way, lit our first hearth all together. The fire, excitement and the love of that night is still warm in our hearts. We give our endless thanks to our Hestia friends, and wish the fire, blessings, light and fellowship of Hestia is never ending....

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Sevtap Yerli

This is Hestia, a kind of Wonderland…

Gülbin Demirbağ Yıldırım

Hestia had a dream first… She wanted to come from thousands of years past. To be a home, food and fire… She wanted to be love again. And she came. Became a home, a family, even an oasis at times. And the mathematics of our lives. Dividing our sorrows, and adding to our joy. She became the heart. She became water, and bread. Sometimes an all too familiar fun fair. Other times, the feast of places unknown. A university campus sometimes, a wedding hall, or a free show. Brewed tea, and the smell of freshly baked bread. Pillow fight, and the crack of sunflower seeds. Tarhana soup, and if they’re out, boeuf bourguignon.

Cana Dölay

Hestia: The comfortable and stylish venue where I feel the pleasure of being warmly surrounded by friends each time I visit… Full of surprises just like its owner! In short, Hestia, our team and the ambiance are all fantastic!!

Viktor Schilton
Host of
events
sleek and
tasteful
is of course
Asiye

Çağla Ormanlar Ok

Hestia is a collaboration of energy… like a mother’s arms, ready to embrace anytime… sincere like its Asiye… generous… cheerful… solidaristic and friendly… She is family! Home!

Gamze İneceli

This place that we’ve found ourselves again, and that we take refuge at any moment of our lives, has become a guide for all of us…
The faces aligned side by side on the wall of Hestia have become light and family for each other. The flavors, which are continuously boiling in Hestia’s pot, are always shared, sometimes with sadness, but often with joy and enthusiasm, and they are the taste of life

And our Asoş continues to enrich our lives as our muse with her life energy, uncomparable understanding of sharing and a heart that’s open to the world…

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Selçuk Gürışık – Ali Alev

Dear Hestia,
We thank you for letting us in though your unifying threshold that hold us up in this chaos of a big city. Hope to see you for many years…

Ümit Hamlacıbaşı

A historical street of the city. It’s a hectic chaos. Strangers colliding. Worn out steps, a heavy iron door. A deserted island. A hearth. Familiar strangers. All of them, coming together in Hestia’s warmth. Unsung heroes that Kronos swallowed. Resisting time and people
Hestia’s magic is Asiye’s magic.

Dilek Başara

In the short video recording we prepared for Asiye, I said “she’s the tree of life, she multiplies while growing” to describe her. Hestia is the result of that growing heart. In a way, it is where her heart became a venue.
When I saw Hestia for the first time, what I thought was this sentence: “She blended all the details of this place just as how she blended each of us together.” I still think the same. She created a venue just like her heart, my Asiye…

All about us, and a part of her and all of us… Her heart, most likely, wanted it to be a place for this family. A place where we eat, and drink, and share, and laugh, and gather. She wanted all of us to find a blessing, a spark of life here.

My Asiye’s heart is tireless. Hestia sometimes hosts parties, other times exhibitions, even conversation sessions… Not to mention long friendly chats… Can a person’s heart change? We met mostly at Asiye’s house when we were students, and in the following years… The place for our parties, celebrations, meetings, chats, our Ahmet Arif nights were again always Asiye’s house.

Her heart, beating to produce, to share, to spread, combined with her aesthetics, elegance and intelligence resulted in the birth of Hestia... She said something’s missing and gifted it to us… Her heart probably said something’s still not quite done, and she sealed all of our faces to the walls one by one...

I can only thank you, one more time, for your existence, for being my blood sister, and for being my friend in life…

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