Golden Spoon Gastronomy Awards

TURKISH CHEF OF THE YEAR – OSMAN SEZENER, OD URLA
SELECTION CRITERIA: A chef who knows our local ingredients and food culture, blends his own stylistic creativity with international standards, and manages a full-time restaurant.
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: He cooks the ingredients coming from the Aegean land and sea in the most natural way on wood fire, and transforms local products into a gastronomic journey of international standards with his unique style.
FOREIGN CHEF OF THE YEAR – FABIO BRAMBILLA, D.REAM GROUP
SELECTION CRITERIA: Those who have been living and working in Turkey for at least three years. The chef who manages the restaurant, which contributes to the culinary culture in Turkey with his culinary interpretations as well as the staff he trains.
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: Our Italian chef, who has been living in Turkey for many years and stands out with his works on Anatolian cuisine, especially during his duties as executive chef in five-star hotels. Fabio Brambilla, who applies the original recipes he learned in the restaurants he works in Istanbul and contributes to the training of many young chefs, continues his work.
YOUNG CHEF OF THE YEAR – MURAT DENİZ TEMEL, ALAF
SELECTION CRITERIA: Under the age of 30, who has adopted conducting as a profession. Working in a Turkish traditional or foreign restaurant or patisserie. A chef who stands out with his skills in traditional products or his creativity in new products.
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: Despite his young age, he did internships in the kitchens of the world’s leading restaurants such as NOMA and D.O.M. Alaf is in Kuruçeşme; It starts from its own Yoruk roots and tells the story of a nomad who feeds on his roots at the table.
BEST TRADITIONAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR (IN ITS OWN CATEGORY) – KISMET, IZMIR
SELECTION CRITERIA: Those who apply concepts that have become traditional in Turkey, use and preserve local and seasonal products and/or local and traditional recipes. Applying table service. The one that best represents traditional tastes. The place employs a Turkish chef and Turkish staff in charge of the kitchen (Traditional concepts can be fish, kebab, artisan, local business models. An award can be given to a different concept every year)
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: One of the last representatives of Anatolia’s inn restaurant tradition. Located in İzmir Kemeraltı, Urlalı Hasan Usta’s (Hasan Çağan) 50-year-old tradesman restaurant continues this tradition with the most seasonal dishes and traditional recipes.
BEST FOREIGN CONCEPT RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR – SHANG PALACE, SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
SELECTION CRITERIA – Representing a national cuisine other than Turkey and using the products and techniques required by that cuisine. The place that best reflects the culinary culture of its country (Japanese, Italian, Thai, etc.) as well as its taste and quality of ingredients.
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: It offers the cuisine of the Canton and Sichuan regions of China. There are ovens, sauces and ingredients specially brought from China to prepare the dishes in the traditional way in China. Tea, which is also an important ceremony, comes from China. With 6 Chinese chefs in its kitchen, it reflects the cuisine it represents in the most original way.
BEST SINGLE PRODUCT TRADITIONAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR – BAYRAMOĞLU DÖNER
SELECTION CRITERIA: Working on one or more products existing in our country’s traditional food inventory, using local products and culinary techniques. The place that stands out with a single product and applies it best with both cooking, ingredients and presentation, apart from taste, is Köfteci (Köfteci, Kaburgacı, Iskembeci, Muhallebici, Dumplings, etc.).
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: A 30-year-old business that only makes doner kebabs. Making doner kebabs starts with choosing the meat. The processed meat is cooked over wood fire to perfection. Natural and additive-free special dough for tandoori bread (lavash) is rolled thinly. Then, it is finalized in the tandoor over oak wood fire. Its taste, ingredients and cooking technique are very special.
BEST PASTRY OR DESSERT HOUSE OF THE YEAR – ORKİDE PASTRY, GAZİANTEP
SELECTION CRITERIA: Those who operate in the field of making traditional Turkish desserts or world desserts and cakes, sell the products both outside the business and serve them in their own place. A place that has made a name for itself throughout Turkey with the taste and quality of its products.
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: It represents a legacy that a family of baklava masters has been passing down from generation to generation since 1965. Today, the 5th generation of the family is at work. It undertakes the mission of making classic cakes popular in Gaziantep, where baklava is very popular, and has been raising the bar in pastry for more than 50 years by producing its own raw materials.
BEST PRODUCT SALES POINT OF THE YEAR (FOOD & BEVERAGE) – ÇEMEN’S GURME, KAYSERİ
SELECTION CRITERIA: Containing traditional and noble products specialized in one or more regions of Turkey. It does not include ordinary products other than products at this level. Informative and without question of honesty
AWARD JUSTIFICATION: He first entered the sector with the store where Kayseri’s delicatessen products were sold. Later, by establishing a workshop to supply a wider range of local products, he supported the production of local products with traditional methods, as well as providing employment to women from Kayseri. In addition to its 3 delicatessens, 2 restaurants and production workshops, it can deliver local products to all parts of Turkey through online sales.
SPECIAL REWARDS
SPECIAL JURY AWARD – DENİZ ŞAHİN
Deniz Şahin is one of the chefs in Istanbul who best implements Anatolian cuisine with contemporary presentations while preserving the original recipes. Honça took the first step into the cooking profession at Tokat House. He always worked on Anatolian cuisine during his journey, which continued with Galata Kiva, Berlin Honça and then again with Kiva. He implemented Anatolian Folk Cuisines abroad. He has been the head of Sade Five Seas Cuisine for the last two years. The region, which includes Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Azerbaijan, is the most fertile geography in the world; The Black Sea, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Caspian Sea represent the five seas that give their name to this geography.
TUĞRUL ŞAVKAY SUCCESS AWARD – GÜRSEL TONBUL
Gürsel Tonbul, who has been practicing certified organic farming at Tonbul Farm since 2000 and meticulously adopted a sustainable agriculture model that feeds himself and is based on local diversity, founded the Çiftlik and Değirmen restaurant businesses in 1995 and created the Yerlim brand. It continues its farm business, focusing mainly on vegetable growing, fruit growing, olive and viticulture, as well as greenhouse farming and cattle and sheep breeding.

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