Marat
@marat1.bsky.social
I travel places. I eat things. I meet people. And I write about it.
#Storyteller #Writer #Travel #Food #Wine
Substack: https://travelogues.substack.com/
#Storyteller #Writer #Travel #Food #Wine
Substack: https://travelogues.substack.com/
There’s an honesty in street food that no Michelin Star restaurant could ever compete with.
No theatrics. No molecular gastronomy. No plating. No showmanship. No pretense. Just fire, patience, simple ingredients, and craft.
Flavor is truth, and truth needs no garnish.
#Writer #Travel
No theatrics. No molecular gastronomy. No plating. No showmanship. No pretense. Just fire, patience, simple ingredients, and craft.
Flavor is truth, and truth needs no garnish.
#Writer #Travel
November 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Want to know a secret?
The real Hanoi isn’t found in guidebooks. It’s tucked in alleyways where flavor meets scooter exhaust. It’s discovered in laughter echoing through tangled wires and open windows.
It’s not photogenic—but you’ll never find anything else like it.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller
The real Hanoi isn’t found in guidebooks. It’s tucked in alleyways where flavor meets scooter exhaust. It’s discovered in laughter echoing through tangled wires and open windows.
It’s not photogenic—but you’ll never find anything else like it.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller
November 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Want to know a secret?
The real Hanoi isn’t found in guidebooks. It’s tucked in alleyways where flavor meets scooter exhaust. It’s discovered in laughter echoing through tangled wires and open windows.
It’s not photogenic—but you’ll never find anything else like it.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller
The real Hanoi isn’t found in guidebooks. It’s tucked in alleyways where flavor meets scooter exhaust. It’s discovered in laughter echoing through tangled wires and open windows.
It’s not photogenic—but you’ll never find anything else like it.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller
Hanoi. Every vendor here has a story.
Negotiation is both theater and expected. It’s a haggle for the best deal. And between all of the hand gestures, there’s a ritual that’s hidden in the mundane.
Want to learn? Just watch and listen.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Hanoi #Vietnam #LifeInParts
Negotiation is both theater and expected. It’s a haggle for the best deal. And between all of the hand gestures, there’s a ritual that’s hidden in the mundane.
Want to learn? Just watch and listen.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Hanoi #Vietnam #LifeInParts
November 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Hanoi. Every vendor here has a story.
Negotiation is both theater and expected. It’s a haggle for the best deal. And between all of the hand gestures, there’s a ritual that’s hidden in the mundane.
Want to learn? Just watch and listen.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Hanoi #Vietnam #LifeInParts
Negotiation is both theater and expected. It’s a haggle for the best deal. And between all of the hand gestures, there’s a ritual that’s hidden in the mundane.
Want to learn? Just watch and listen.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Hanoi #Vietnam #LifeInParts
Scooter riders in Hanoi continuously flow through the chaos.
They are like dancers in constant improvisation, weaving gracefully through a sea of of what we could only call madness.
It’s a skill that Hanoi teaches everyone silently—resistance slows you down; rhythm gives you momentum.
#Writer
They are like dancers in constant improvisation, weaving gracefully through a sea of of what we could only call madness.
It’s a skill that Hanoi teaches everyone silently—resistance slows you down; rhythm gives you momentum.
#Writer
November 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Scooter riders in Hanoi continuously flow through the chaos.
They are like dancers in constant improvisation, weaving gracefully through a sea of of what we could only call madness.
It’s a skill that Hanoi teaches everyone silently—resistance slows you down; rhythm gives you momentum.
#Writer
They are like dancers in constant improvisation, weaving gracefully through a sea of of what we could only call madness.
It’s a skill that Hanoi teaches everyone silently—resistance slows you down; rhythm gives you momentum.
#Writer
The best meal in Hanoi won’t be on any list.
You can’t book it, tag it, or map it. Want to know where it is? You’ll have to wander until the streets choose you. Then sit and trust the old woman with the kind face.
The internet can tell you where to eat, but only serendipity feeds your soul.
You can’t book it, tag it, or map it. Want to know where it is? You’ll have to wander until the streets choose you. Then sit and trust the old woman with the kind face.
The internet can tell you where to eat, but only serendipity feeds your soul.
November 21, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The best meal in Hanoi won’t be on any list.
You can’t book it, tag it, or map it. Want to know where it is? You’ll have to wander until the streets choose you. Then sit and trust the old woman with the kind face.
The internet can tell you where to eat, but only serendipity feeds your soul.
You can’t book it, tag it, or map it. Want to know where it is? You’ll have to wander until the streets choose you. Then sit and trust the old woman with the kind face.
The internet can tell you where to eat, but only serendipity feeds your soul.
Bún chả. Hanoi. Vientam.
This cultural recipe is an equation.
Smoke + sweetness + salt = balance.
Fire + time + care = joy.
Every bite is the city reduced to its elemental truth—harmony and balance, chaos transformed into beauty.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Vietnam #Hanoi
This cultural recipe is an equation.
Smoke + sweetness + salt = balance.
Fire + time + care = joy.
Every bite is the city reduced to its elemental truth—harmony and balance, chaos transformed into beauty.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Vietnam #Hanoi
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Bún chả. Hanoi. Vientam.
This cultural recipe is an equation.
Smoke + sweetness + salt = balance.
Fire + time + care = joy.
Every bite is the city reduced to its elemental truth—harmony and balance, chaos transformed into beauty.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Vietnam #Hanoi
This cultural recipe is an equation.
Smoke + sweetness + salt = balance.
Fire + time + care = joy.
Every bite is the city reduced to its elemental truth—harmony and balance, chaos transformed into beauty.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Vietnam #Hanoi
A cup of cà phê đá coffee sits wrapped between my fingers.
It’s bitter meets sweet. Slow drip meets fast heartbeat. It’s how Hanoi teaches patience in a city that never stops moving.
Some rituals wake you up long before the caffeine hits your bloodstream.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Vietnam
It’s bitter meets sweet. Slow drip meets fast heartbeat. It’s how Hanoi teaches patience in a city that never stops moving.
Some rituals wake you up long before the caffeine hits your bloodstream.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Vietnam
November 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
A cup of cà phê đá coffee sits wrapped between my fingers.
It’s bitter meets sweet. Slow drip meets fast heartbeat. It’s how Hanoi teaches patience in a city that never stops moving.
Some rituals wake you up long before the caffeine hits your bloodstream.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Vietnam
It’s bitter meets sweet. Slow drip meets fast heartbeat. It’s how Hanoi teaches patience in a city that never stops moving.
Some rituals wake you up long before the caffeine hits your bloodstream.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #Vietnam
The tang of fermented fish sauce hung in the air
The smell of fresh herbs, a melange of bird's eye chili and black pepper nearly stung my nose as they sizzled deep in the wok—the soul of Vietnamese cooking.
It’s proof that perfection often starts where comfort ends
Chase the flavors that scare you
The smell of fresh herbs, a melange of bird's eye chili and black pepper nearly stung my nose as they sizzled deep in the wok—the soul of Vietnamese cooking.
It’s proof that perfection often starts where comfort ends
Chase the flavors that scare you
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The tang of fermented fish sauce hung in the air
The smell of fresh herbs, a melange of bird's eye chili and black pepper nearly stung my nose as they sizzled deep in the wok—the soul of Vietnamese cooking.
It’s proof that perfection often starts where comfort ends
Chase the flavors that scare you
The smell of fresh herbs, a melange of bird's eye chili and black pepper nearly stung my nose as they sizzled deep in the wok—the soul of Vietnamese cooking.
It’s proof that perfection often starts where comfort ends
Chase the flavors that scare you
As I held my chopsticks, the city thrummed around me like a hive.
Motorbikes blurred past like schools of metallic fish. And yet, right in the spinning wheels storm’s eye, I found a stillness. That contradiction was Hanoi’s divine balance.
A moment of serenity inside a buzz of chaos.
#Writer
Motorbikes blurred past like schools of metallic fish. And yet, right in the spinning wheels storm’s eye, I found a stillness. That contradiction was Hanoi’s divine balance.
A moment of serenity inside a buzz of chaos.
#Writer
November 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
As I held my chopsticks, the city thrummed around me like a hive.
Motorbikes blurred past like schools of metallic fish. And yet, right in the spinning wheels storm’s eye, I found a stillness. That contradiction was Hanoi’s divine balance.
A moment of serenity inside a buzz of chaos.
#Writer
Motorbikes blurred past like schools of metallic fish. And yet, right in the spinning wheels storm’s eye, I found a stillness. That contradiction was Hanoi’s divine balance.
A moment of serenity inside a buzz of chaos.
#Writer
The woman at her street stall slow stirs her cauldron.
She crafts history in a bowl, memory in broth, love in rice noodles. Each stir of her ladle opens generations of recipes handed down. This is not fast food. This is soul food. This, is a family legacy.
It’s a pot of simmering alchemy. #Writer
She crafts history in a bowl, memory in broth, love in rice noodles. Each stir of her ladle opens generations of recipes handed down. This is not fast food. This is soul food. This, is a family legacy.
It’s a pot of simmering alchemy. #Writer
November 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
The woman at her street stall slow stirs her cauldron.
She crafts history in a bowl, memory in broth, love in rice noodles. Each stir of her ladle opens generations of recipes handed down. This is not fast food. This is soul food. This, is a family legacy.
It’s a pot of simmering alchemy. #Writer
She crafts history in a bowl, memory in broth, love in rice noodles. Each stir of her ladle opens generations of recipes handed down. This is not fast food. This is soul food. This, is a family legacy.
It’s a pot of simmering alchemy. #Writer
Every alley in Hanoi feels alive.
They twist and coil like veins, pulsing with noise and stories. It’s chaos and choreography intertwined. There’s no clear path—you go on instinct. Maybe that’s the secret: follow your senses.
Don’t navigate Hanoi. Let Hanoi navigate you.
#writer #travel
They twist and coil like veins, pulsing with noise and stories. It’s chaos and choreography intertwined. There’s no clear path—you go on instinct. Maybe that’s the secret: follow your senses.
Don’t navigate Hanoi. Let Hanoi navigate you.
#writer #travel
November 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The first thing Hanoi hits you with isn’t what you see—it’s what you smell.
A smoky whisper of grilled pork. A sweet kiss of herbs. A sharp punch of fish sauce. It’s a scent that tells you what the city never will in words.
Here, the language is aroma.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts
A smoky whisper of grilled pork. A sweet kiss of herbs. A sharp punch of fish sauce. It’s a scent that tells you what the city never will in words.
Here, the language is aroma.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts
November 15, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The first thing Hanoi hits you with isn’t what you see—it’s what you smell.
A smoky whisper of grilled pork. A sweet kiss of herbs. A sharp punch of fish sauce. It’s a scent that tells you what the city never will in words.
Here, the language is aroma.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts
A smoky whisper of grilled pork. A sweet kiss of herbs. A sharp punch of fish sauce. It’s a scent that tells you what the city never will in words.
Here, the language is aroma.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts
Dinner at the end of the night should end with you always surrounded by crumbs, bottles, laughter, and stories.
Across the table, happiness is on a fork. In a glass. In good company.
It’s a exchange of culture, flavor, memories, and laughter.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #Food #Wine #Friends
Across the table, happiness is on a fork. In a glass. In good company.
It’s a exchange of culture, flavor, memories, and laughter.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #Food #Wine #Friends
November 14, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Smells are like time-travel. Cooking is a time machine.
One whiff of garlic and thyme in butter, and I’m back in my friend’s kitchen. It's where I learned to put a dish together. Where recipes met improv, the air thick with laughter and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Where talent became a “Chef’s Whim”
One whiff of garlic and thyme in butter, and I’m back in my friend’s kitchen. It's where I learned to put a dish together. Where recipes met improv, the air thick with laughter and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Where talent became a “Chef’s Whim”
November 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Smells are like time-travel. Cooking is a time machine.
One whiff of garlic and thyme in butter, and I’m back in my friend’s kitchen. It's where I learned to put a dish together. Where recipes met improv, the air thick with laughter and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Where talent became a “Chef’s Whim”
One whiff of garlic and thyme in butter, and I’m back in my friend’s kitchen. It's where I learned to put a dish together. Where recipes met improv, the air thick with laughter and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Where talent became a “Chef’s Whim”
Cooking drunk with a friend sounds chaotic—and it is.
But chaos, however, has its own rhythm. Recipes take a backseat to laughter. Ingredients are tossed in between swigs of wine and Chef’s whims. Caution is told to fuck off.
But sometimes, that’s where the best meals come from.
#Writer #Travel
But chaos, however, has its own rhythm. Recipes take a backseat to laughter. Ingredients are tossed in between swigs of wine and Chef’s whims. Caution is told to fuck off.
But sometimes, that’s where the best meals come from.
#Writer #Travel
November 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Wine is something truly unique.
It’s a conversation in a bottle. Grown by farmers. Fermented by winemakers. Selected by friends. Poured in moments that we try to capture forever.
It’s art in a glass meant to caress the moment and savor the event.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Wine
It’s a conversation in a bottle. Grown by farmers. Fermented by winemakers. Selected by friends. Poured in moments that we try to capture forever.
It’s art in a glass meant to caress the moment and savor the event.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Wine
November 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Wine is something truly unique.
It’s a conversation in a bottle. Grown by farmers. Fermented by winemakers. Selected by friends. Poured in moments that we try to capture forever.
It’s art in a glass meant to caress the moment and savor the event.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Wine
It’s a conversation in a bottle. Grown by farmers. Fermented by winemakers. Selected by friends. Poured in moments that we try to capture forever.
It’s art in a glass meant to caress the moment and savor the event.
#Writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #Wine
We often forget how personal and sensual cooking can be.
Every sizzle. Every scent. Every touch. A sprinkle. A dash. A stir. A decision. It’s a slow dance. New recipes are discovered when creativity tells you to close the cookbook and do your own fucking thing.
It’s a “Chef’s Whim”
#Writer #Travel
Every sizzle. Every scent. Every touch. A sprinkle. A dash. A stir. A decision. It’s a slow dance. New recipes are discovered when creativity tells you to close the cookbook and do your own fucking thing.
It’s a “Chef’s Whim”
#Writer #Travel
November 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
There’s a strange kind of magic in dishes that take hours.
The ingredients are diced and prepped. Slowly, they all simmer on a stove that changes them forever. It’s a moment of alchemy that creates something completely, sublime.
Like friendship—built slow, simmered deep, and worth every moment.
The ingredients are diced and prepped. Slowly, they all simmer on a stove that changes them forever. It’s a moment of alchemy that creates something completely, sublime.
Like friendship—built slow, simmered deep, and worth every moment.
November 13, 2025 at 3:37 PM
There’s a strange kind of magic in dishes that take hours.
The ingredients are diced and prepped. Slowly, they all simmer on a stove that changes them forever. It’s a moment of alchemy that creates something completely, sublime.
Like friendship—built slow, simmered deep, and worth every moment.
The ingredients are diced and prepped. Slowly, they all simmer on a stove that changes them forever. It’s a moment of alchemy that creates something completely, sublime.
Like friendship—built slow, simmered deep, and worth every moment.
You can taste the love and care in a glass of wine.
Believe it or not, part of a wine’s flavor is the love of the winemaker, the friendship of the person that selected the wine, and the patience of its discovery. Every pour holds a story, every toast a promise.
Sip slowly. Savor.
#Writer #Travel
Believe it or not, part of a wine’s flavor is the love of the winemaker, the friendship of the person that selected the wine, and the patience of its discovery. Every pour holds a story, every toast a promise.
Sip slowly. Savor.
#Writer #Travel
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Even the most well run kitchens are chaos.
Pots boiling, flames dancing, food plating, wine pairing, conversations flowing, laughter spilling over. Perfection isn’t precision—it’s presence.
And we were always, absolutely present.
#writer #travel #storyteller #lifeinpart #MichelinStar
Pots boiling, flames dancing, food plating, wine pairing, conversations flowing, laughter spilling over. Perfection isn’t precision—it’s presence.
And we were always, absolutely present.
#writer #travel #storyteller #lifeinpart #MichelinStar
November 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Even the most well run kitchens are chaos.
Pots boiling, flames dancing, food plating, wine pairing, conversations flowing, laughter spilling over. Perfection isn’t precision—it’s presence.
And we were always, absolutely present.
#writer #travel #storyteller #lifeinpart #MichelinStar
Pots boiling, flames dancing, food plating, wine pairing, conversations flowing, laughter spilling over. Perfection isn’t precision—it’s presence.
And we were always, absolutely present.
#writer #travel #storyteller #lifeinpart #MichelinStar
A great chef once said, “Life’s too short for bland chicken.”
That’s not just cooking advice—it’s actual fucking philosophy. In your kitchen, don’t spare the salt, the garlic, the parsley. Create flavor with love and determination.
Spice it up like you mean it.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel
That’s not just cooking advice—it’s actual fucking philosophy. In your kitchen, don’t spare the salt, the garlic, the parsley. Create flavor with love and determination.
Spice it up like you mean it.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel
November 13, 2025 at 7:59 AM
A great chef once said, “Life’s too short for bland chicken.”
That’s not just cooking advice—it’s actual fucking philosophy. In your kitchen, don’t spare the salt, the garlic, the parsley. Create flavor with love and determination.
Spice it up like you mean it.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel
That’s not just cooking advice—it’s actual fucking philosophy. In your kitchen, don’t spare the salt, the garlic, the parsley. Create flavor with love and determination.
Spice it up like you mean it.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel
What’s the secret ingredient in every great meal?
It’s not salt. It’s not garlic. It’s not any actual seasoning. It’s not even the wine you pair with your meal (apologies to all of the oenophiles out there).
It’s actually conversation. Stir it often.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #LifeInParts
It’s not salt. It’s not garlic. It’s not any actual seasoning. It’s not even the wine you pair with your meal (apologies to all of the oenophiles out there).
It’s actually conversation. Stir it often.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #LifeInParts
November 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM
What’s the secret ingredient in every great meal?
It’s not salt. It’s not garlic. It’s not any actual seasoning. It’s not even the wine you pair with your meal (apologies to all of the oenophiles out there).
It’s actually conversation. Stir it often.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #LifeInParts
It’s not salt. It’s not garlic. It’s not any actual seasoning. It’s not even the wine you pair with your meal (apologies to all of the oenophiles out there).
It’s actually conversation. Stir it often.
#Writer #Storyteller #Travel #LifeInParts
Want to become a time traveler? Cook a meal with a friend.
Mise en Place becomes the time machine. Laughter becomes the soundtrack. Wine becomes the fuel. Memories become the spice.
That’s the recipe every kitchen adventure should start with.
#writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #France
Mise en Place becomes the time machine. Laughter becomes the soundtrack. Wine becomes the fuel. Memories become the spice.
That’s the recipe every kitchen adventure should start with.
#writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #France
November 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Want to become a time traveler? Cook a meal with a friend.
Mise en Place becomes the time machine. Laughter becomes the soundtrack. Wine becomes the fuel. Memories become the spice.
That’s the recipe every kitchen adventure should start with.
#writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #France
Mise en Place becomes the time machine. Laughter becomes the soundtrack. Wine becomes the fuel. Memories become the spice.
That’s the recipe every kitchen adventure should start with.
#writer #Travel #Storyteller #LifeInParts #France
Some recipes can’t be hurried.
Coq au Vin teaches patience better than any self-help book. You can’t rush depth. You can’t speed up soul. A dash here. A dice there. Then let the simmer do its magic. Its alchemy on a stove.
Sometimes, you have to let time do the heavy lifting.
#Writer #Travel
Coq au Vin teaches patience better than any self-help book. You can’t rush depth. You can’t speed up soul. A dash here. A dice there. Then let the simmer do its magic. Its alchemy on a stove.
Sometimes, you have to let time do the heavy lifting.
#Writer #Travel
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Les Halles de Dijon is a basilica for the food-obsessed.
You don’t shop here; you worship. Every stall, a sermon in flavor. Every vendor, a preacher of taste. Every row, a pew for the devout of color, of flavor, and fragrance, of texture.
Step in. Pull out your basket, and wander.
#Writer #Travel
You don’t shop here; you worship. Every stall, a sermon in flavor. Every vendor, a preacher of taste. Every row, a pew for the devout of color, of flavor, and fragrance, of texture.
Step in. Pull out your basket, and wander.
#Writer #Travel
November 12, 2025 at 3:43 PM