"I cook from a place between memory and imagination —
where Anatolian roots meet Nordic restraint."
Born in Gaziantep, Turkey — a city where spice routes once converged — I learned that food is the most honest autobiography a person can write. My mother's kitchen was my first classroom; it taught me that simplicity is not a lack of ambition but the highest form of it.
Two decades later, after stages in Copenhagen, London, and New York, I returned to Istanbul to open Köz — a restaurant that refuses to choose between memory and modernity. Every dish is a conversation between where I come from and where the world is going.
Grass-fed lamb from the Taurus mountains, roasted over vine wood. The pomegranate molasses reduction is a recipe from my grandmother — the only dish I refuse to modernise.
Signature · Spring/AutumnLine-caught turbot from the Black Sea coast, pan-roasted in brown butter. A meeting point of Turkish coastal cuisine and Nordic precision — the caviar is a nod to Bosphorus trading routes.
Tasting Menu · Year RoundForty-eight layers of hand-pulled phyllo, Antep pistachios, and wild rose honey from the Aegean coast. Served warm. Eaten in silence. This is my love letter to Gaziantep.
Dessert · SeasonalA reimagination of the Anatolian mezze tradition — elevated, precise, and deeply personal. Shared food is sacred food. This plate insists on being eaten together.
Sharing · All SeasonsOn the relationship between memory, craft, and what we choose to put on a plate for another person.
"The most political act in the world is to cook a meal with honesty — to say: this land, this season, this hand. There is no room for pretence when fire and hunger are involved."
Graduated top of class from the Culinary Arts Academy. Won the national young chef competition at 22.
Three transformative years under Alain Passard. Learned to make a vegetable the hero of a plate. Fundamentally changed how I think about restraint.
Brought Mediterranean fire into a Nordic framework. First Michelin star arrived in 2014. The kitchen here rewired my instincts.
Returned home. Opened Köz — Turkish for 'ember'. Three Michelin stars by 2022. World's 50 Best #4 in 2024. The most honest thing I've ever built.
A record built slowly, one honest plate at a time.
Available for consulting engagements, brand collaborations, residencies, speaking engagements, and selected Head Chef opportunities globally.