Food lover and journalist Nick Kwek travels to the Aegean peninsula of Izmir, one of Turkey's most vibrant food scenes, where a boutique wine scene is blossoming and traditional seasonal ingredients are reinvented for modern menus. Starting in Izmir, Nick gets a taste of the many cultural influences that make Izmir unique, visiting one of the area's oldest pastry shops with local food influencer Gökçen Coşkun. Ready to dig into the area's ancient Greek roots, he saddles up for a bike tour across the winemaking region of Urla. He meets vintner Ceylan Ertörer Diaz, of Hus Wines, who explains how thousands of years of winemaking came to a standstill during a dramatic population exchange around a hundred years ago, when the resident Greeks from Izmir were moved to Crete with the Turkish population coming the other way. With the Greeks, went the area's winemaking skills, but now the community is bringing this lost art back.

Nick visits the ancient amphoras uncovered by Can Ortabaş - a man on a mission to revive the native Urla black grape and rounds off his deep dive into Izmir's wine scene with Reha Ogunlu, in the cellars beneath Urlice vineyards, seeing how the soil here provides much-needed protection against the changing climate.

Nick continues his culinary journey by meeting Ozan Kumbasar, an esteemed chef who puts sustainability at the core of his seasonal cooking. Nick sails out to taste a native speciality - the 'Urla oyster' - hand-selected by free diver Emre Kızılışık. Back on land, Nick learns why the native mastic artichoke is so beloved in this region. He joins chef Ozan in the fields where he is striving to protect this native artichoke species and helps collect crops to create a feast at Ozan's restaurant. He is guided through the wine pairings by sommelier Seray Kumbasar. This farewell dinner is the perfect place to reflect on how Izmir locals are breathing new life into its traditional cuisine, celebrating the natural bounty, and protecting the local treasures right on their doorstep. Show less