I arrived early from a previous flight and was not able to check in for my 12:10 a.m. flight to İstanbul, so I headed to the food court in Terminal 1 to spend a few hours answering emails and scrolling social media to pass the time until the counter opened for check-in. It was Mother’s Day, and the scent of prepackaged bouquets perfumed the air as the hours passed by. I arrived to the counter only a few minutes after it opened and the staff was helpful and courteous, offering smiles with chipper greetings like, “Happy Mother’s Day” and, “Don’t forget to call your mom today. Have a great flight!” to each ticketed guest. With still a few hours to spare, I breezed through security and made a sharp turn directly into the Lufthansa lounge, which Turkish Airlines uses for its passengers. The WiFi was a bit slow, but the coffee was strong and the snacks were plentiful, ranging from a hot entrée station to a candy station with jars of mini marshmallows and Skittles. The announcement came on loud and clear and I casually made my way to the gate and boarded right away onto an updated Boeing 737-900.

© Kristy Alpert

I had every intention of sleeping my way through the more than nine-hour flight, but the second a man in a chef hat handed me a detailed menu, I knew I needed to stay awake to see what was in store. Turkish Airlines was the first airline to employ onboard chefs for business class, and it has been the leader in airline cuisine ever since. The first portion of the menu came with a pen attached to circle my selections for breakfast. Options included two eggs fried in butter or a Turkish omelet, along with homemade muesli, yogurt and a selection of fruits and pastries. Flight attendants passed out noise-cancelling earphones, disposable Turkish slippers and curated amenity kits by Bentley. I sipped a fresh-pressed raspberry juice while watching Dr. Oz give a rundown on the Turkish Airlines experience. Not long after the empty glasses were gathered, we were in the air with an on-time departure.

© Kristy Alpert

Unlike a staged performance at a theater, on Turkish Airlines, it’s when the curtain goes down the show truly begins. The flight crew draped the curtain to the galley and soon scents of fresh bread and simmering butter wafted their way past the thin cloth. The staff came around to take drink orders for the appetizer course, which consisted of a choice of traditional Turkish mezze, a prawn salad or a creamy tomato soup. I opted for a glass of Champagne (G.M. Mumm) and the Turkish mezze before setting my seat to recline and using the touchscreen remote control to begin a recently released movie. Entrées included a choice of a steak and salad with rosemary potatoes, salmon with celeriac mousseline and a vegetarian dish with mushrooms and risotto. My steak course came out alongside a flickering candle and a tray with architecturally inspired porcelain salt-and-pepper shakers and a small ramekin of Turkish herbs and olive oil. The steak was cooked well done, and although I prefer more on the rare side, the presentation was beautiful and I found myself in awe the meal in front of me could even be in the same category as other airplane food. It was a delightful dining experience, and worth every bit of lost sleep to see a chef carting down a multi-tiered tray of desserts, Turkish coffees and Turkish wines to end the meal.

After a glass of Turkish wine, I put my seat into the bed mode, pulled my eyeshade on and curled beneath a thin but well-insulated blanket for a six-hour slumber. I awoke just after the breakfast service ended, pleased I had slept so soundly and had plenty of time to brush my teeth and freshen up with the Molton Brown bathroom products in the lavatory before landing.

I only had a short layover in İstanbul before boarding for Entebbe, Uganda, but I had heard legends about the iconic Turkish Airlines lounge in İstanbul, and I knew I had to at least peek inside. Your business-class boarding pass is all you need to enter, and you simply scan your boarding pass to gain entrance into a world of Turkish Airlines’ creation. The first thing I saw as I entered was a soaring library with arched ceilings and a grand pool table, being used by a sharply dressed English businessman and a Turkish man in a polo shirt and slacks. The lounge is grand even on a scale of grandeur, and I wandered my way through the corridors past a movie theater with an antique popcorn popper; a station with a chef rolling out Turkish pastries; rolling mezze carts with friendly attendants; an expansive Turkish olive bar set beneath a live olive tree; and multiple coffee stations with options for Rize black tea, Turkish coffee, American coffee, espresso machines and a selection of teas ornamented with colorful trays of Turkish delights. Massages are complimentary, and the lounge features private sleeping rooms and showers in the lower level for guests to utilize on long layovers. I only wish I could have stayed longer to fully experience everything the lounge had to offer.

I made my way to my departure gate, admittedly a little spoiled after my 20 minutes in lounge heaven, and boarded the Boeing 737-800 plane for Entebbe. It wasn’t long before the excitement for what lay ahead overshadowed the experience I just encountered, and I was soon dreaming of Ugandan safaris and tracking the silverback mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Turkish Airlines

New York (JFK)–İstanbul (IST)–Entebbe (EBB)