Good People of vitruta: Emir Yargın

Welcome to Good People of vitruta, Emir! Today you were out and about in the streets of Pera with Rains, but we know your story with Rains actually goes back much further. Would you like to share how you first connected with the brand?

This is one of my favorite stories. In 2018, at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, I was wandering around in a vintage trench coat and happened to stop by the Rains stand, where I took a photo of myself in the mirror. A gentleman from the stand noticed me and said they really liked my style and asked to take my photo. They dressed me in a Rains raincoat with a striking black leopard print on a poppy red background, took my picture, and even shared it on their social media. To top it off, they gifted me the raincoat! As I was thanking them, I found out that the person who made the offer was actually Rains’ designer. These spontaneous encounters and connections make me so happy.

From days of attending the Roskilde Festival to days when we can’t even leave the country, how are you spending your time in Istanbul? Where do you like to go, and how do you enjoy spending your days?

These days, weekends with friends usually mean sticking to a few favorite spots and neighborhoods. There are only a handful of places where we truly feel comfortable. We also spend a lot of time meeting up at home—my friends, like me, enjoy cooking and hosting. Going out to concerts or the movies has become a luxury, and traveling abroad feels like a distant dream. I’m managing to keep myself busy, but I really feel for students, who now have limited access to so many things that would help broaden their horizons without them even realizing it.

We've known you primarily as a musician, Emir, but now you’re also directing, and a few years back, Çakal Lezzetler joined the mix. How do you manage to juggle so many different things? That must require an incredible pace!

Yes, I do work a lot—though I wouldn’t say I can keep up with everything perfectly! But I think each project supports the others. I can apply each of my skills or experiences to the other fields. If we look at music as content, then everything I do falls under the broader umbrella of content creation.

I have great respect for those who choose a single path and focus on it, but for me, a bit of variety works wonders. It keeps me from getting bored.

Çakal Lezzetler has reached a fantastic audience not only with your recipes but also with your guests, chats with the grocer, humor, and stories. There isn’t a friend group out there now that doesn’t know Çakal Lezzetler with Emir Yargın. Where did the idea for Çakal Lezzetler come from, and how did it reach this point?

Honestly, I didn’t expect the recipes to be such a focal point. I had envisioned it as an entertainment show centered around food. But when I saw that hundreds, even thousands, of people were actually trying the recipes, I started putting in a lot more effort on that side of things. I couldn’t let down those who trusted me. Yes, it’s a fun channel with lots of casual chat, but it’s also become one of the most trusted channels for recipes. Entertainment and reliability are usually seen as separate things, but building a channel that provides both has taken years of consistency and persistence without losing sight of the goal. And, of course, the feedback from viewers has been my greatest guide along the way.

Is there a specific *Çakal Lezzetler* episode you think the *vitruta* community would absolutely love? I’m curious!

Definitely this one!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3STT-o5os](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3STT-o5os)

Let’s wrap up our interview by asking what you’ve been listening to lately. Who or which bands have caught your attention recently?

I feel like I’m cursed! I can never seem to discover new music. I already have so many musician friends, and I love their work, so I just keep listening to them. PLEASE HELP!